A Rocky Road
by madamemouse
Summary: AU/AH. Going to a new school is always tough, but Chloe is used to it. What she isn't used to, is dealing with big meanies. What happens when our shy, drama girl is partnered with the scary football player everyone avoids? Rated M for citrus and language
1. Watch It

A/N: Hello my fellow readers! I had such high hopes to have this story up a couple of weeks ago, but life has kicked my ass...in a good way. Anyways, I'm sure everyone is busy as well, but, alas, I haven't even been able to read much fanfiction which is one my coping mechanisms...along with chocolate. HOWEVER, I finally decided to just ignore my responsiblities for a day and pump this little chapter out. It is a little on the short side, but it seemed like the perfect spot to stop. BUT, because it's so short, I will post the next chapter in a week. HOWEVER, after the second chapter, my updates will, unfortunately, be a little slower...like every 2-3 weeks. :( Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Also: All our favorite characters here all normal and I've altered their ages so that they're all seniors in high school. The first chapter doesn't have a lot of info, but if something is confusing by the third chapter, please let me know. Plus, the romance is going to take awhile between our characters. I want to build up that tension as much as I can. KISSES!

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers...at all...not even a little bit.

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_Lionel Richie? Is that you?_

Chloe groaned as the tinny sound of Mr. Richie's 'All Night Long' floated from her alarm clock. Slapping her hand hard on the snooze button_, _she glanced at the time and groaned once more. She had rode through her alarm and three snooze buttons before realizing, just now, that she had about twelve minutes to get ready and into her car, to make it to school on time.

_Why did I have to stay up so late? Curse you, awesome film editing program!_

Kicking off the covers, she stumbled out of bed, awkwardly pulling on the first pair of jeans she snatched from her dresser. She quickly threw on a bra and a t-shirt as she headed to her bathroom. Brushing her teeth, she gazed at her reflection and sleepily assessed her looks. _Okay, I don't look so bad, if everyone just ignores the dark circles under my eyes and my oh-so-pasty complexion_. She splashed cold water on her face in the hopes to wake her up and maybe add a little color to her face. She glanced at her reflection again and grimaced. _God, I look like a zombie extra from some horrible B-Movie. Not good_.

Hastily, she brushed a little bronzer on her cheeks and added a rosy lip gloss before throwing her hair in a ponytail. _That's going to have to be enough._

A sharp banging on her bedroom door, caused her to jump and - embarrassingly - yelp as well.

"Chloe! Are you up? You know you need to leave the house in five minutes!"

It was Melinda, their live-in housekeeper. She had been a new addition since Chloe and her dad moved into a new building clear across Buffalo and she seemed nice enough. _A lot nicer than our last four housekeepers we had, _Chloe thought, scowling.

"Yes, don't worry, I'm up!" Chloe yelled, racing to her room. Grabbing her bag off the floor, she slipped her feet into some flats and swung her door open.

Melinda was standing in the doorway, her hand still raised from knocking on the door, looking relieved.

"Oh, good," she sighed heavily, moving out of Chloe's way. When the petite girl passed her, Melinda trailed after Chloe saying in her breathy voice, "Your father was very specific that you needed to be on time this year."

"I know," Chloe replied, making her way to the kitchen. "I promised him I would be better about that. I haven't even been late once and it's already been a month into the new school year."

She poured herself some coffee in her travel mug and grabbed a slice of banana bread. _And maybe, _Chloe wondered, _if I call him today and tell him how awesomely on time I've been, he'll buy me the new Photoshop CS5 when he gets back from his business trip. What's the time difference from Singapore? It wouldn't help my case if I wake him up in the middle of the night. _

Grabbing a hoodie, Chloe waved a goodbye to Melinda and quickly made her way to the building's garage. She was practically running to her car, with the mantra, _PhotoshopPhotoshopPhotoshop, _blaring through her mind. Unlocking the door she threw her stuff on the passenger seat, thanking the universe again for letting her dad settle on a used VW Golf for her, rather than the giant Yukon her dad originally wanted her encased in or, even worse, a brand new luxury car with all the bells and whistles.

She didn't want to seem ungrateful, especially since her dad's motives were for safety reasons. She knew her dad was thinking about her mother and the car crash. But Chloe was always the new girl at a new school and nothing was worse than being labeled the new spoiled, little rich girl. They had finally compromised on a car that was less pretentious and had about a million airbags in it – and they were both happy.

Turning on the car, she arranged her coffee and banana bread for easier access and she carefully eased her car out of the garage.

Chloe was a good driver, obnoxiously so – always adhering to the speed limit, even if she was late, and she never fiddled with her phone. She was like an anomaly – a rare species – when it came to driving a car compared to other teenage girls. It was obvious her mother's death made her more than a little careful on the road and there were times, when she drove at night, that she would sometimes break out into a nervous sweat. Thankfully, she rarely drove in the dark and the school was about a ten minute drive away.

She just finished her breakfast of champions as she pulled into the school's driveway and quickly parked in the first spot she found. Hauling her bag, she speed-walked towards the entrance, weaving through the last of the straggling students, as her new Photoshop mantra rang through her mind, which had coincidentally taken up the same melody as Lionel's 'All Night Long'.

Rushing to her locker, she swapped her textbooks and supplies before slamming it shut and high-tailing it to her first class, the dreaded Algebra. She had less than a minute, more than enough time if she sped up a little, which she certainly did. With her head down, she rounded a corner and smacked right into something – something extremely big, hard and warm.

_Ow. Dangit!_

Stumbling back, she managed not to fall on her ass with the assistance of a luckily placed wall, which she was now splayed gracelessly against. She looked up...and up...and up, until her gaze rested on the glowering face of the infamous Derek Souza.

"I-I-I – " she stammered, trying desperately to extricate the apology from her lips but it was so damn hard when the scariest guy in school was glaring down at her. Chloe's heart thumped hard and she felt her cheeks grow warm. She couldn't help shrinking back at the menacing expression on his face.

His eyes narrowed and he scowled even harder before growling the words Chloe will never, ever forget, in the most slow and drawn-out and intimidating way possible.

"Watch it."

Then he sauntered away, leaving Chloe frozen on the spot, dumbfounded and open-mouthed, staring after him.

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	2. The Project

A/N: Hey Y'all! Thanks again for taking the time to read my story. And a kiss on the hand for those who reviewed. A special thanks to my lovely beta, Tweety4be, for taking time from her crazy-busy schedule to fix my mistakes. And another special thanks to my other gorgeous beta Fanpire4000 (yes, I need two) for being my other, uh, beta. This story is inspired heavily on all the AU/AH Twilight fics I've read. God, there are so many good ones! And I thought since there aren't many AU Darkest Powers stories (though the ones that exist are great) I'd try it out. Warning: There will be an abundance of cliches but I plan on making those cliches as fun as possible. I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers. Wish I owned Derek. Seriously, who wouldn't!

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It took about ten seconds of just staring down the hall Derek had just walked down, for Chloe to gather her wits and quickly shuffle to her math class.

She had just made it on time to her class, but she hardly noticed. Her heart was hammering frantically in her chest as she sunk into her chair, barely aware of Mrs. Barnes taking roll. Her mind could only focus on those angry, green eyes boring down on her in the hallway. She felt shaky and flustered, like she had just drunk twenty cups of coffee instead of just the one she had in her car.

_God. He is one scary_ _dude!_

Derek Souza was a well-known fixture in Roosevelt High. He was a senior, like Chloe, and was the best football player Roosevelt had ever produced. He was so good, in fact, that most of the big universities had been scouting and wooing him since he was a sophomore. From what Chloe understood, he played defense and his position was the defensive equivalent of a quarterback but she didn't care enough about football to learn more about it. What she did know was that Derek was rarely seen without his trademark scowl, unless he was with his foster brother Simon, who Chloe had seen him smile twice with – or with Simon's cousin, Tori, who Derek would sport an expression of indifference with. But everyone else got the scowl...or the glower...or – in Chloe's case – the glare. _Which is quite terrifying when you're the recipient._

She was feeling a little calmer – less shaky – but she still couldn't focus on today's lesson. Not like she could on a good day, math was too dang hard. But after her...moment with Derek, it was proving almost impossible to pay attention.

Her body and mind had quieted down a bit and she was feeling less freaked out but there was a new emotion taking residence in her mind. An emotion she didn't feel or express very often. Anger.

"_Watch it."_

_Hmph...I'm so sure!_ _What the hell crawled up his butt and died? Jeez, I just bumped into him...in fact, we bumped into each othe__r, it wasn't all my fault! And he glares at me like I ran over his foot with my car on purpose, which seems like a very good idea now, actually!_

A huge part of her knew his slight wasn't personal, he was mean to everyone but she couldn't help feeling resentful. She was a fly-under-the-radar kind of gal, the wallflower, the girl everyone thought was sweet and shy – who wouldn't hurt a fly. It was so rare when someone, especially a boy, was so rude to her. Huffing to herself, she doodled furiously in her notebook and willed herself to forget about him.

And as soon as she knew it, the anger was gone but what replaced it wasn't much better. It was a feeling of nervousness, of anxiety. He was in her history class, the second to last class of the day. _Oh god. _There was a good chance he wouldn't even notice or care enough to acknowledge her – that his rudeness extended to everyone and that she wasn't special enough to get any more attention from him, but still...

She groaned and clunked her forehead on her desk.

"Chloe?" It was the concerned voice of Mrs. Barnes, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Um...yes, Mrs. Barnes," Chloe said, straightening up quickly, "Yes, I'm fine." She gave her teacher a weak smile and tried her best to copy the formulas on the whiteboard.

The next few classes were a blur for Chloe. With the combination of her lack of sleep catching up with her and her increasing distress of seeing Derek in her history class, she was pretty much a ball of anxiety by the time lunch rolled around. Plus, she was nervous at the chance of seeing him at lunch, though she never noticed him in the cafeteria before but that could have been because she never looked for him either.

Slowly, she made her way to the cafeteria and hastily scanned the large space when she entered. The cafeteria wasn't very crowded, but it was a warm day so most people were outside, Chloe guessed. She didn't see him but she did see his brother at a crowded table, his arm slung over a pretty girl. Derek was a hard person to miss, but she looked around a little more thoroughly anyways, and still, she didn't spot him. She breathed a sigh of relief. _Nope, he's definitely not here. Thank you, Jesus._

Chloe had enough of an appetite for only an apple and a carton of milk when she noticed Rae waving her over towards a table. Plopping down with a sigh, she greeted Rae quietly, causing the other girl to take notice of her friend's appearance.

"You okay?" Rae asked.

Chloe nodded. "I stupidly stayed up until 3am last night, playing with my new editing program."

"Until 3am?" Rae said, shaking her head and smiling. "Didn't you do that a couple times last week?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, dragging out the syllable. "It's just so freaking addictive."

"Right," Rae laughed, spearing her salad. "It's like me and Sudoku."

Fiddling with the stem on her apple, Chloe mumbled, "And I had a bit of an...altercation with Derek Souza."

Rae raised her eyebrows at this. "Say what?" Her eyes widened, "He didn't hurt you...or mess with you, did he?"

"No!" Chloe said quickly. "I just bumped into him," she muttered, "literally, and he was just rude. You know, the usual."

Rae's eyebrows were still high, her eyes questioning.

"I ran into him and he glared at me and told me to watch it." Chloe said in a rush. "It's no big deal, just a little weird is all."

Rae nodded slowly at this. She seemed thoughtful for a second before saying, "He's got a pretty wicked glare on him, that's for sure. But he's an ass clown to everyone, even to Simon and Tori, though not as much towards them then at the general public."

"Of course," Rae continued, stabbing at a tomato rather forcefully. "Tori is no picnic either. God, that girl is a straight-up bitch."

Rae's eyes slid over to the other side of the cafeteria and Chloe followed her line of sight. And there she was, Victoria Bae, queen goth of Roosevelt High, surrounded by her little goth groupies. Tori was an interesting study on stereotypes. She was rumored to be into old-school witchcraft – voodoo dolls and spells and such – but she was an absolute computer nerd and had her own separate computer geek clique. Her attitude wavered between bitchy and indifferent and she never wore anything but black, but her best friend, Liz, was a cheerleader – and not only a cheerleader, she was also, quite possibly, the nicest person on the planet and one of Chloe's friends.

Chloe surveyed Tori a little longer, noticing the other girl's body language. _Like royalty lording over the peasants,_ she thought wryly. But Chloe had to hand it to Tori, the girl knew how to command a room. Almost half the cafeteria, mostly boys, were watching her. And Chloe didn't know how Tori did it – how she managed to wear short, tight miniskirts that were utterly scandalous and knee-high boots, looking very much like a junior dominatrix-in-training but still not look trampy. How her eyes were outlined with so much eyeliner, that she seemed to be channeling the ancient Egyptians but still she looked sophisticated and not trashy. Most of the male population hovered between being completely enthralled with her and absolutely terrified of her at the same time. It seemed the only boy who had enough confidence and balls to pursue her was, Brady Hersch, who was one cocky bastard and the school's football quarterback but he was having no luck snatching up the elusive Tori. _The guy must seriously love a challenge._

"I don't know why I'm subjected to having two classes with her this year," Rae muttered. "God, you should hear some of the obnoxious shit that comes out of that girl's mouth." In a raised falsetto, Rae mimicked, "'Oh Rae, I walked past a gym the other day and almost got you a brochure. Oh Rae, how's Weight Watchers going? Not very well I see.' God, I just want to punch her in the mouth!"

Chloe shook her head. "No one does bitchiness better than her. But I already told you what I think," Chloe said, looking at her pretty friend. "She's totally jealous of you. I mean, she only picks on the prettiest girls in the school."

Rae scrunched her face in disbelief. It was obvious to Chloe that Rae was unaware how boys slyly checked her out when she walked by. Rae wasn't a small girl, but she had curves in all the right places and she stood out in her own way.

"Trust me," Chloe repeated. "She's jealous."

Flashing her a grateful smile, Rae changed the subject and they chatted about their favorite shows for awhile.

Wiping off her hands with her napkin and tossing it on her plate, Rae said, "You have history class with Derek, right? What are you going to do when you see him?"

"Uh, pretend he doesn't exist," Chloe said, shrugging.

"I like it. A sweet and simple solution." Rae smiled. "I, however, would probably throw a book at his head." She gave Chloe a wink before glancing at her watch. "Lunch is almost over," she sighed and stood up, gathering her things. "It's your study period now, right? You heading to the library?"

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you later," Chloe said, then seeing the questioning look on her friend's face, she added, "And I'll let you know what happens in History." Still the look didn't go away, so Chloe added further, "The moment I get out of class. In a text." The look was still there. "A very detailed text."

Finally satisfied, Rae nodded and waved goodbye.

Trudging to the library, Chloe could feel her nerves winding up again. She hadn't realized how much more relaxed she felt talking with Rae but now she couldn't help stressing herself out for her inevitable faceoff with Derek. _Faceoff? Stop being so dramatic, Chloe. _Turning the corner to the large hallway that faced the library, she vaguely noticed the door swing open until she saw a giant figure step out of the doorway. _Holy crap! It's Derek freaking Souza. _She jumped at the sight and barely had enough time to scramble behind a large pillar.

Feeling strangely like James Bond – which was cool – but also kind of like a stalker – which was definitely not cool – she peered carefully around the pillar, watching him walk by. Even though she had seen him at a number of occasions – in the halls, in her class, glowering over her this morning – she was still surprised at how massive the guy was. Then another thought occurred to her. _This is where he spends his lunch. In the library._ She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that. Clearly, the guy didn't like being around people and wanted to be left alone. There was a rumor that he was crazy smart and placed in Advanced Calculus but Chloe found that hard to believe since he was so clearly an athlete in her mind.

_But maybe the rumor is true. Maybe he truly is a math wiz. And maybe he just likes to study. He might actually be a nerd in jock's clothing._

The thought was too strange for Chloe and she couldn't help smile at the idea of Derek, the bad ass football player, being a secret geek. Then she suddenly wondered why she cared. _I don__'t! He's just a fascinating character study is all._

She waited for him to move out of sight when she crept around the pillar and entered the library. Finding her favorite table she spread out her homework but she couldn't concentrate on anything and her eyes kept flashing, automatically, to the clock on the wall every few minutes.

Chloe couldn't believe an hour could pass so slowly and so quickly at the same time. Her stomach was a jumble of knots by the time she scooped up her things and began walking to her history class.

Just outside the classroom, she took a few calming breaths, before entering and she noticed immediately he wasn't there yet. She felt a little bubble of relief as she moved towards her desk, murmuring hellos to a few of her classmates. When she sat down, she pulled out her notebook and began doodling in the margins, her heart pounding in her chest. She was determined not to notice, or at least, not look up, when he would finally enter the room.

There were a few more shuffling noises as more people came into the classroom and settled into their seats, but Chloe stubbornly kept her head down. But then, she couldn't guess how she knew, she felt _him _enter the room. She could just feel his large presence take over the space – moving in front of the class, then over to the far left aisle and finally folding himself into his chair.

Swallowing hard, she could feel the tightening of her lungs as her rapid heartbeat demanded her body to breathe harder. She so badly wanted to catch a glimpse of him, but she didn't dare. Instead, she focused on the teacher, Mr. Rosen, like a Labrador on a tennis ball.

Her heart and breathing eventually calmed down but she was still so aware of him in her peripheral. She was aware of him picking up his textbook, leafing through his papers, scribbling in his notebook, that she was having a hard time following Mr. Rosen's lecture.

Finally, after an agonizingly long class, their teacher had a little announcement about the big history project due in two months. This was a subject he brought up a few times in passing, and she already knew this project was about half of their grade, and it was to be on innovative technologies and revolutionary inventions dating before the industrial age.

He was repeating everything he had previously told the class before, until he got to point of, "...and after much thought, I've realized that the project may be a little too big for a single person. So, I have decided that it should be a two person project instead. After assessing the strengths of each of you, I've also decided it would be best if I assigned each student their partner as well."

At this, Chloe began fidgeting in her seat. _Assigning a partner? What if...No, the chances of me being partnered with Derek is, like, one out __of twenty something. You're just being paranoid. _But still, she couldn't shake off her anxiety.

That anxiety only increased when Mr. Rosen began listing each partnered group and she still hadn't heard her name yet...or Derek's. By the time Mr. Rosen was more than half-way finished – it finally happened.

"Chloe Saunders," Mr. Rosen's voice echoed, and Chloe could have sworn time stood still. "You'll be partnered with Derek Souza."

_Oh...Holy...Hell._

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	3. Medieval Warfare

A/N: Hola Y'all! Okay, so I'm posting this earlier than expected but I really can't promise that I'll be able to do so again *sniffles in sadness*. I have seriously neglected stuff in my life (Work? What work?) but I do want to let everyone know that I will update on a regular basis, usually every 2, maybe even 3, weeks so I won't flake on you. Anyways, thanks for everyone taking the time to read and a kiss for those who reviewed. Also, many thanks to my beta Fanpire4000 who spent a good chunk of time fixing my mistakes. If you haven't checked out her DP stories, please do so, they rock all over the place. And another thanks to my other beta tweety4be as well. Those gals are gorgeous! Oh, I hope you enjoy this chapter. KISSES!

Disclaimer: Don't own :(

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Chloe just sat there, in stunned silence, unsure if she heard her teacher right.

_Me? Partnered with...Derek "Scary Dude" Souza? No way! This isn't happening. I refuse to believe this is happening. Nope. It's not. Uh-uh._

But Chloe knew she heard right. Her body had heard right, because at the moment, she felt her arms grow cold, her face grow hot, and her breathing falter and she had the insane urge to jump up and run from the room...screaming...with her arms flailing about.

Before she knew what she was doing, she glanced over at Derek but he was gazing straight ahead, looking extremely bored. Chloe guessed she should feel relieved he wasn't glaring at her or looking outwardly upset but she felt a little annoyed. _He can't even acknowledge that I exist. This guy is something else! Can he be any ruder?_

She huffed angrily and looked away, catching the last part of what Mr. Rosen was saying.

"So I'll give you guys that last few minutes of class to chat with your partner about particulars and such."

The class erupted in noise as chairs scraped and students began talking with their partners. Chloe's gaze flicked tentatively over to Derek again – and again he was still sitting, looking bored and like he wasn't going to get up anytime soon...or in the next century.

_Oookaaayyy. I guess it's up to me to make the first move. _

Trying desperately to control her erratic breathing, she rose from her seat and slowly approached his desk. It seemed like each step she took, her anxiety seem to increase triple-fold and she seriously wondered if it wasn't too late to turn tail and run out of the room screaming like she originally wanted.

She stopped right next to his desk, and quickly noticed that even sitting down, he was almost as tall as her. That was an unsettling thought.

Swallowing hard, Chloe cleared her throat, her mouth opened to say something, anything. But before she could utter a syllable, Derek's eyes snapped to her's, his expression intense and guarded.

"We'll meet after school," he rumbled. "In the library. In front of the non-fiction section."

And without waiting for her reply, he grabbed his backpack and left the room, leaving Chloe to stare after him, open-mouthed and dazed, for the second time that day.

Turning around, she headed back to her desk, her hands automatically arranging her things back into her bag. _What the hell was that? Is that how it's going to be? All business and rudeness?_

A few moments later, the bell rang and she gave an absentminded wave to Mr. Rosen before exiting the classroom. Remembering Rae, she fumbled in her bag for her phone. She had a text. _Rae._

**How was DS?**

Chloe sighed to herself before texting back.

**Awesome hes my partner for big project.**

Her phone immediately buzzed.

**Omfg!**

**I know! Call u later**

As Chloe strode down the hall, easing her way through the crowd, she wondered how surreal her day had been so far. It seemed like all day today, she was feeling either anxious or annoyed and it was all because of one person. She was getting even more irritated that she still felt agitated, all because she still had to meet up with Derek after school and judging from her interactions with him so far, it wasn't going to be a bed of freaking roses.

Getting closer to the theater, Chloe noticed Mila hanging outside the door. The other girl looked up and waved excitedly before squealing and running over to Chloe, engulfing her in a hug.

"Oh my god! You would not believe what happened to me today," Mila started, clasping Chloe's hand and dragging her inside their drama class. "Simon," she whispered frantically, "said hi to me and..." she paused dramatically, "he winked..." She winked a brown eye, just in case Chloe didn't get it. "At me."

"That's great, Mila," Chloe said automatically, trying not trip while her eyes adjusted to the dark space. "Is he still going out with that one girl?" Of course, Chloe did see Simon with a girl at lunch but he had a ton of friends, many of them girls, so it was possible he was available.

"Yes," Mila pouted, dragging them to a group of seats that weren't already occupied by other students. "Rachel. God, she is such a skank!" She sat down and crossed her arms. "She only likes him because he's popular."

"Well, it also helps that he's cute, too." Chloe added, smiling. She adored Mila – she was vivacious, out-going and an open book, everything Chloe wasn't, and maybe that was why they were becoming such good friends. There was only room for one diva in their relationship.

"Oh God, I know. He's the absolute cutest. And funny. And sweet." She sighed loudly. "And he is way too good for that...Rachel," she said, scrunching her nose. "I don't know what it is about him. I mean, I can talk to just about anyone, but with Simon," she shook her head helplessly, her long black hair waving with the motion, "I just freeze completely or become a total spaz. It so sucks!"

Rubbing Mila's arm, Chloe said, "Well, I'm like that with most people on this planet, so I totally understand."

"No you're not, Chloe. You're just thoughtful. You're a quiet genius."

Chloe snorted at that and was about to respond but the stage lights fired up and Mrs. O'Donnell entered onto the stage, ready with her announcements.

"Okay, people. We all know what our job is. Let's everyone go through their lines with each other. Chloe, you and I are going through the layout of each scene. I want everything perfect."

"Oh joy," Chloe whispered at Mila, before making her way on stage.

That hour of class went by in a flash. Mrs. O'Donnell kept Chloe occupied drawing up set designs and taking copious notes. This season's play was Tristan and Isolde which Chloe thought was rather ambitious for a high school play but the designs for the sets were enough for Chloe to die and go to heaven. Mrs. O'Donnell and Chloe decided to do a multimedia set – with video and photographic imaging projected on a large screen behind the actors rather than the old-fashioned sets with stage props and furniture. With Chloe's theater training from her last school, A.R. Gurney, she was a natural choice for set designer and she was happily busy testing specific images and equipment for the upcoming production.

The school bell broke through Chloe's concentration and she felt a jolt of anxiety as she put her notes away. Mila came to join her as they walked out of class and into the crowded hallways.

"So, you wanna check out that used bookstore across from Ben and Jerry's?" Mila asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "Kill two birds with one stone."

Chloe exhaled dejectedly. "I can't. I have to meet up with my new, awesome history partner." When Chloe saw Mila's eyebrows raise expectantly, she added, "And my new, awesome history partner is Derek Souza."

Mila's eyes widened into perfect circles. "Simon's brother," she said brightly, she clearly missed Chloe's sarcastic tone. Then seeing the dark look on Chloe's face, she said, "I guess he is rather unpleasant, isn't he?"

"Um, a little. And when I say a little, I actually mean a lot."

"Oh no. I'm sorry, Chloe."

Feeling more uneasy by the second, Chloe smiled and tried to put on a brave front. "It's not that bad. So, um, let's definitely do that Ben and Jerry's bookstore thing some other time. Okay?"

They had reached the entrance to the library when Chloe announced that this was her stop. Mila gave her an encouraging hug goodbye and taking a giant gulp of air, Chloe entered the library.

She had no idea where the non-fiction section was and after a little wandering, she gave up and asked the librarian who pointed her towards an isolated looking part of the library. Reluctantly, she trudged towards their meeting area, noticing that this part of the library, was indeed, very isolated. _So no one can hear me scream. _She giggled nervously at the thought. _It's a library, not the middle of the woods, Chloe._

She rounded a giant bookshelf, and there he was – sitting in a big, comfy chair – skimming through a large book, his eyes hidden by his dark hair. Trying to walk a little more confidently than she felt, she sat in one of the other chairs opposite him.

"Finally," he growled, flashing his eyes at her as he snapped the book closed. "I have to be at practice in five minutes."

"P-Practice?" Chloe said, cursing her stutter to die a horrible death.

"Football," he said, as if he was seriously questioning her intelligence.

She felt her face grow hot with irritation. "So why did you want to meet if you only have a few minutes to talk?" Chloe asked, trying to sound as if she was questioning his intelligence as well.

He stood up, throwing the book he had been reading at her feet with a loud thud.

"Here," he simply said.

"Okay?" she asked, incredulous. "What's this?"

"It's a book." And he smirked. When Chloe didn't respond, he said with an irritated sigh, "It's what we're doing our project on."

"Oh, really," Chloe said, feeling suddenly very angry, her fear of him completely gone. "Did I agree to this? Whatever this is. Uh, actually, that would be a no, I have not agreed to this." she said, waving her hand to the book on the floor. "And whatever happened to handing something to someone, rather than just throwing it in their general direction. You may not know this, but that kind of behavior is actually considered very rude."

"Is it?" he growled and his eyes locked onto her's.

It took all of Chloe's courage to hold his gaze – it wasn't easy with him towering over her, his green eyes on fire, his shoulders tense. _He's trying to intimidate me. He's testing me. _She clenched her jaw and glared back determinedly.

"I don't have practice tomorrow," he said abruptly, causing Chloe to jump a little, which earned another smirk from him. He bent down and picked up the book and rested it on the arm of her chair.

"Tomorrow after school works for me," she said calmly.

"Does it?" he said, with thinly veiled sarcasm. Picking up his backpack, he walked away without saying a word.

Chloe sat there, watching him walk away for the third time today. _The third time! The absolute nerve of that...that...God, he's such an assface! _Looking down at the book on the armrest, she read 'Medieval Warfare'. _Of course, that's what he wants to do our project on. I'd like to do some Medieval warfare on his face! _

Smothering the urge to chuck the book across the library, or set it on fire, or rip it in half like the Incredible Hulk – she instead swept up the book and her bag and calmly approached the librarian to check the book out, feeling rather proud of herself for standing up to Derek "I'm an Assface" Souza and living to tell the tale.

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	4. Those Franklin Beavers

A/N: Hola everyone! Thanks for your continued interest in my story and another HUGE thanks for those who reviewed! There have been a few questions that have been asked that I thought I should answer. One of them is if I will write in Derek's POV - sadly, the answer is no; the reason is that I want to keep Derek as mysterious as possible and once I start writing in his perspective, I feel that there'll be less tension. I want us to be kept in the dark right alongside Chloe. However, that doesn't mean I won't write his POV in maybe an outtakes once the story is complete, but that depends on if y'all would like that or not. Another question was what Derek's position was on the football team; I debated on this quite a bit, since everyone has different opinion on what's the most important/strategic postion on defense but I'm going to say a Defensive End. From what I've been told/read, they're in charge of keeping the plays "inside" and they often sack the quarterback. Also, there have been questions about other minor characters from DP being introduced and all I'm going to say is...wait and see ;) I hope you all enjoy! KISSES!

Last but not least, I must thank my betas, Tweety4be (who went through this chapter with painstaking attention) and for Fanpire4000! If it weren't for these ladies, you would be so distracted from all my mistakes. Seriously.

Disclaimer: Don't own. So sad.

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By the time Chloe walked through her front door, she was utterly exhausted. Today had been a roller coaster ride but without the going up – it just seemed to go down...and down...and down some more.

Setting all her things down on the dining room table, she went to the kitchen to grab something to drink and noticed a note on the kitchen counter next to a plate of freshly baked cookies.

_Chloe-_

_Watching The Reeds' kids tonight again. Dinner in the fridge. Hope you enjoy!_

_-Melinda_

Chloe peered in the fridge, seeing the tray of veggie lasagna. _My favorite! _Suddenly, her horrific day seemed a little bit brighter. Grabbing the plate of cookies and some milk, she settled herself at the dining room table. She pulled out her math homework and tried making sense of the numbers and letters and funny symbols until her eyes hurt and she gave up.

Her eyes flicked towards the book Derek gave her and she reached for it curiously. Flipping through its contents, she noticed little sticky notes were sporadically placed on a number of pages. They were notes. _His notes. _Nibbling on a cookie, she browsed a few of them – highlights of what he thought were important facts or points. She studied his handwriting and was surprised to see how neat it was, reminding Chloe of the writing on the blueprints her dad would sometimes bring home.

She searched for more of his notes, and found that reading his ideas and opinions, she had to grudgingly admit this was a good subject for their project. Shoving a cookie in her mouth, she pushed the book away and returned to her math problems.

She was about halfway through understanding – kind of – her first math problem, when her phone buzzed. Seeing the name on her phone, she smiled and answered.

"Hello Ms. Rogers."

"What the hell is going on? He's your partner?"

Chloe sighed dejectedly and told Rae the whole story, which was kind of funny in an ironic way, or at least, that's how Chloe made it out to be. Rae gasped and exclaimed at all the right moments, until finally saying, "God, that sounds like an absolute nightmare."

Agreeing wholeheartedly, Chloe listened to Rae bemoan her chemistry test, until Rae had to get off the phone to help with her siblings.

After a phone call with aunt Lauren, a plate of lasagna, homework, five cookies, and an email to her dad with the words "punctual" and "Photoshop" in it, Chloe decided to call it a night. She was spent. But as tired as she was, she had a hard time falling asleep. Angry, green eyes kept flashing in her mind, distracting her from finding any rest. It took an hour of tossing around for her to finally fall asleep.

…...

The next morning was far less hectic than the morning before. Chloe had managed to wake up with enough time to shower, not bump into any scary boys on her way to class, and thought she may have done okay – kind of – on the pop quiz in Algebra.

Plopping into a chair in her English class, she had decided that today was going to be better than yesterday. Of course, there was still a nagging sense of unease when she thought of meeting Derek after school, but she refused to dwell on it long, forcing her mind to think of all the wonderful things she could do on her soon-to-be-new Photoshop program. _Like superimposing Derek's face on half-naked bodies in compromising positions. Oooh, yes, that would be wicked fun!_

"What are you grinning about?"

Chloe jumped. Liz had just sidled into the seat next to her, smiling.

"Is it about a boy?" Liz whispered. "Is that why you were so out of it in class yesterday?"

Blushing, Chloe stammered, "W-What? A boy? What?"

Liz's eyes widened. "It is about a boy!"

"Uh, no, Liz. It's definitely not what you think." Seeing Liz's confused look, she added, "I don't like anyone. Trust me." Chloe explained that the reason for her "out of it" appearance was due to a lack of sleep. She debated on whether she should tell Liz about Derek but thought better of it. Liz was Tori's best friend and Chloe guessed Liz knew Simon and Derek fairly well, through Tori. She didn't want Liz to feel stuck in the middle of a conflict, especially since she probably found herself in the middle of drama all the time with her best friend.

"Whatever you say, Chloe," Liz said with a small smile. "So, you're going to the big game tomorrow night, right?"

"Game?" Chloe said in confusion. "Oh, um, the football game?"

Liz looked scandalized. "Uh, yes. The huge, everyone-has-been-talking-about, Friday night game with our biggest rivals, The Franklin Beavers."

Chloe couldn't help it, she had to giggle. "The Beavers?"

But Liz was looking utterly serious. "You have to be there, Chloe. We must support our team and our school. I mean, this could be it – the year that we finally make it to state. We can't let them down. We must persevere. We must!" Liz looked so earnest and pleading and a tiny bit scary that if Chloe didn't know they were talking about football, she may have thought Liz was talking about the fate of the world. _No wonder she's an awesome cheerleader, she takes her school spirit to an entirely different level._

"Of course, I'm going, Liz," Chloe said, nudging her friend playfully. "I would be crazy to miss it." Liz flashed her big, grateful smile. Chloe sighed inwardly, but as much as she hated being guilt-tripped into going, she knew what it meant to Liz. _And who knows, maybe I'll have fun._

Chloe's morning passed quickly, as did lunch and her study period, and soon enough she was dragging her feet to history class. She hated that she was nervous – nervous to see Derek, even though there was a good chance he wouldn't acknowledge her existence. It was just unsettling not knowing how to act around someone so closed-off and intimidating.

As she entered the classroom, she flicked a cautious glance around the class and her eyes instantly locked onto to Derek's hulking form. She studied his profile for a moment. He looked as he usually did – bored and expressionless. She sat down tentatively, as though she didn't want to attract any attention from him, then remembering how obnoxious he was in the library, chastised herself for being such a baby.

The next hour passed slowly, with Chloe successfully pretending Derek wasn't sitting a dozen feet away from her. In fact, she almost forgot about him...sort of. However, it felt unnatural to her – to ignore someone who she needed to deal with for the next couple months. She debated on whether she should acknowledge him in some way – a nod or a wave or something, but before she could decide on anything, the bell rang and he passed her without so much as a glance. She felt a mixture of annoyance and something she couldn't quite put her finger on, maybe disappointment. She wasn't sure, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

Making her way to her drama class, she thought about what his deal was, what made him so rough around the edges, so hard. She realized she was becoming more and more curious about him, probably a natural occurrence since she'd had to deal with him for the last two days.

A loud hello broke through her thoughts and Chloe looked up. _Mila. _Chloe automatically grinned at her friend, who was bobbing through the crowd, waving excitedly.

Reaching each other, Mila's face turned instantly serious. "So, how was the library?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "To be expected, but fortunately, it was very brief." She quickly told Mila the details as they entered their class and sat down.

"So, I was wondering," Chloe started slowly, "what do you know about him?" When Mila raised her eyebrows, Chloe quickly said, "I'm kind of curious and I just – I'll be dealing with him, more than I'd like obviously, and I just want to know a little more about him. Get my bearings around him, you know?"

Mila nodded enthusiastically. "I totally understand. He's a pretty...intense guy." Folding her hands, Mila looked up thoughtfully. "Well, he and Simon started in the middle of freshman year," and Mila smiled unconsciously when she mentioned Simon's name. "Tori was already going here. I guess her dad and Simon's dad are brothers. Both boys were and are active in sports – Simon in basketball and Derek in football, obviously." Mila squinted her eyes, trying to remember details she hadn't thought of for a while.

"Um, personality wise, they both haven't changed at all. Simon has always been friendly and Derek has always been, well, Derek. I do remember Derek always being big for his age but then he just got huge in sophomore year." Mila scrunched her nose. "He kind of went through an ugly duckling phase too. You know, acne all over and kind of sweaty and..." she trailed off diplomatically. "Well, he was looking a little...rough for a good six months but it didn't last long."

_Ugly duckling phase?_ Chloe was having a hard time associating the word ugly with Derek, unless you threw his attitude in the mix. He may have not been best looking guy in school, Simon seemed to take the mantle of that title, but Derek certainly wasn't ugly._ He's just big and really scary, _Chloe reasoned.

"Hmmm...what else," Mila said quietly, tapping her chin with a finger. "Oh, rumor has it, that Derek came to live with Simon and his dad when he was five...or four. And he came from a pretty scary background but no one knows for sure. The brothers don't talk about it," Mila paused, "and Tori keeps it under wraps as well. Of course, she might not care enough about the situation to gossip about it." Mila shrugged. "Who knows really what's going on, but the family seems very tight-lipped about his past."

Chloe nodded, slowly processing this information. There wasn't a lot that was new but this was probably the most she'd know about him. She would just have to learn to deal with him – to not let his disposition affect her.

Chloe opened her mouth to ask another question but a tall red-headed girl plopped down in front of them.

"What are you girls whispering about?" she asked conspiratorially.

"Hey, Amber," Mila said brightly. "We're just talking about the game tomorrow night. Are you going?"

Blinking at the smooth lie for a moment, Chloe nodded along. Amber was a notorious gossip – or the 'town crier' as some liked to call her. She couldn't keep a secret, or any information for that matter, private, even if someone threatened her with death. Clearly, Mila understood Chloe would want to keep this matter between the two of them.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world. All those cute guys prancing around in those hot football uniforms. Yum!"

Chloe wasn't sure if the words "prancing" and "football" were meant to be in the same sentence, ever, but before she could respond, Mrs. O'Donnell started class.

As usual Mrs. O'Donnell kept Chloe busy and class went by quickly. Before Chloe knew it, she was packing her things into her bag to head over to the library.

"So, are you going to the game?" Mila asked, walking next to Chloe.

"Yes," she sighed. "Liz cornered me. Made me feel like bad things were going to happen if I didn't go."

"You got cornered too," Mila smiled. "Well, I'm going with a few friends. You're more than welcome to join us."

As Chloe told Mila she would love to come, she spotted Derek, his back to her, in front of the library. He was standing with someone. _Simon_. Chloe heard Mila's sharp intake of breath when her friend noticed her crush-of-a-lifetime leaning against a wall, laughing.

Slowly, almost cautiously, Chloe inched closer to them, with Mila next to her, just as unsure as she was. She debated on saying a quick greeting but then thought better of it when Derek looked over his shoulder at her. He was sporting one of his rare smiles but when his eyes rested on her face, the smile was gone, quickly replaced with a blank expression.

For an awkward second, they just stared at each other until Simon's voice cut through the tension. He approached them with Derek trailing after him.

"Hi, I'm Simon," he said, with giant smile. With Simon standing close – his mega-watt smile flashing fully in her face – Chloe could really understand what the big deal was about him. He just screamed friendliness and charm._ And his looks._ He was the perfect and rare combination of handsome and adorable. She had to blink a couple times to gather her senses. Mila wasn't so lucky. Chloe could feel her friend practically swooning into a puddle of goo next to her.

"Um, hi. My name is Chloe." She winced when she heard the dazed and dumb tone in her voice. She recovered quickly, though. "And this is my friend, Mila."

Simon turned his dazzling smile and supreme cuteness onto Mila. "Oh, I know Mila," he said sweetly. "Nice to see you again." He smiled even bigger and winked. And Chloe could have sworn she saw Mila's brain shut off completely. Mila blushed and mumbled something incoherent, while giving a weak wave and walked quickly away.

Noticing the confused look on Simon's face, Chloe said, "She's not feeling very well. Um, might be a cold or something."

Simon nodded, looking suitably worried for a second, before turning his attention back to Chloe.

"So, you're in the unfortunate position of being partnered with my brother?"

"Uh..." Surprised at the bluntness of his question, Chloe stalled. She wanted to agree but it felt strange admitting that to Derek's brother, especially with Derek standing a couple feet from them.

"Don't worry. I had him promise me he would be on his best behavior," he glanced at Derek and laughed when he saw the scowl on his brother's face. "If, however, he misbehaves, you could just roll up a newspaper and smack him upside the head." He shrugged and smirked. "Works for me. Right, bro?"

"Are you done?" Derek grumbled, glowering at his brother. He turned his intense eyes on Chloe, saying, "We need to get started," before turning and walking into the library.

Shaking her head, Chloe stared after him.

"Wow, believe it or not, that was his version of almost being nice." Simon said, a little surprised.

Chloe looked at him like he lost his mind. _That was him being nice? Oh, for the love of God. _"Well, Simon, it was nice meeting you. And thank you for, you know, trying to help." She gave him a small smile. "I really do appreciate it." Waving, she walked towards the library entrance.

"Chloe?" Simon said. She turned around and looked at him curiously. "Remember what I said." He pantomimed rolling a newspaper and swinging it.

Chloe laughed and entered the library.

Assuming he was at their previous meeting spot, Chloe made her way to the non-fiction section, but Derek wasn't there. She looked through a few of the large bookshelves near their spot and she still hadn't seen him yet. She dropped her bag on one of the large chairs and decided to wait for him to eventually show up.

"The librarian said we could use one of the study rooms."

Chloe jumped and, to her horror, squealed a little. Turning towards the deep voice, she saw Derek looming behind her. Mortified, she held her hand to her chest, trying to control her breathing.

"You're pretty jumpy, you know," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Chloe said, a hot blush spreading over her cheeks. "I am jumpy. It's my thing, okay."

He looked at her for a second, then turned and walked towards where, Chloe presumed, the study room was. She grabbed her bag and followed him into a small room with a large table and several chairs. The door closed behind her with a snap and Chloe felt distinctly uncomfortable being alone with Derek. The confined space didn't help either, his entire presence seemed even larger, more intimidating than usual.

Swallowing nervously, she took a seat across from him and pulled out her notebook and the book he gave her yesterday from her bag.

She cleared her throat. "So, I looked at this book and I think you're right. It's a good subject for this project."

He raised his eyebrows in an expression that could only mean "I know" then pulled a few more books from his bag and passed them to her.

Browsing through the books, she said, "Okay, so how do you want to do this? It says on the project itinerary that we need to show drawings, models and a whole list of other stuff along with our report."

Derek handed her a sheet of paper, with what looked like a highly detailed outline of their subject in his handwriting. Chloe's eyes widened. "Wow, you have this all figured out, don't you?"

"We should start researching a list of all the previous technologies that were left by the Romans. Basically, we need a starting point of what kind of weapons were available, to what their weapons had evolved into, especially with the exposure to other cultures through trade and war..." As Derek continued his explanation and mini history lesson about their project, Chloe couldn't help feeling a little flabbergasted at his level of intelligence and, frankly, his vocabulary. _Holy smokes! He really is a brainiac. _She knew she was gaping at him, so she quickly reverted her gaze to his outline in front of her.

He spoke for a few more minutes, with Chloe carefully keeping her head down since she still couldn't hide the amazement from her face, then he opened a book to a specific page and placed it front of her.

"Here's a good place for you to start," he rumbled, then he flipped through another book in front of him and began taking notes. A little uneasy at first, with the strangeness of her situation, Chloe copied Derek and began leafing through her book and scribbling bits of information down.

They had worked quietly like this, for roughly an hour, when Chloe recalled the particulars of her conversation with Mila – about Derek and his "ugly duckling" phase. She had a hard time picturing him going through hormonal teenage hell like the rest of the population, he just seemed impervious to that sort of thing.

Cautiously, she peered under her lashes and carefully studied him. Her eyes trailed over his bent head, taking in his dark hair, his long straight nose and angular jaw. She noticed as he skimmed through a large book, he wasn't wearing his usual scowl and she thought he looked nice. _Okay, nice is not the right word, but he looks...not scary. _When her gaze traveled over his neck and shoulders, she could see how sharply defined his muscles were under the thin fabric of his long sleeved t-shirt. Her eyes lingered on the graceful lines of his biceps and forearms..._Definitely not ugly._

"You know, it's considered rude to stare."

Chloe jumped and her gaze instantly snapped from his arms to his eyes. She felt her face grow unbearably hot as she attempted to say something – anything – to save herself from this embarrassing moment.

"I-I-I wasn't staring at you," she said, completely flustered. "I was looking at that fascinating poster behind you."

Derek looked behind him to see a large poster reminding the public the importance of washing their hands every time they use the restroom, with detailed illustrations in three different languages. "Okay, I'm not sure what's exactly fascinating about it besides the fact that it should probably be in a bathroom."

"Exactly! That's what I was thinking. Why is it here – in a study room – rather than the bathroom? I find it's placement, um, fascinating, you know," she glanced at her bare wrist. "Oh, look at the time, I hadn't realized how late it was and I really do need to get going. I, uh –" She began haphazardly stuffing her papers in her folders and throwing them and anything her hands could reach into her bag. "It's been very, uh, informative and I guess we should meet up soon, right? Yeah, so, I, so – "

Derek's eyebrows shot up and he was looking at her like she was speaking another language...or gibberish, which wasn't far from the truth. "We probably should meet up once a week. Yes," he said slowly, almost cautiously, like he was seriously questioning her sanity. "Thursday works for me."

"Thursday! Yep, Thursday's good. Okay, yes, well, um – " Grabbing her bag, she already had her hand on the door. "So goodbye and, uh, good luck pounding those Beavers tomorrow night!"

Derek's eyes widened and Chloe took a split second to realize her unfortunate, sexual innuendo before she spun on her heels and fled out the door. S_weet Jesus! Did I just say beaver in front of Derek? Did I just say...pounding? Please, someone just kill me now!_

She heard a rumbling sound come from the room right before the door clicked shut behind her and Chloe realized much later, when she had time to replay the horrific scene over and over again, that it had been Derek's soft laugh.

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	5. The Game

A/N: Hey Everyone! Thanks again for your continued interest in my story and thank you the reviews (Awww...). As you know, I won't be able to update as quickly as I like, unfortunately life has taken over and there is only so many minutes in a day that I can actually write (plus, I'm really slow at this writing business cuz it's so dang hard) so thank you for your patience! I'm already operating on 5 hours of sleep a night and I really don't think I can do 4. *sigh* I wish, though. There were several directions I could have taken this story (light and fluffy, or a more serious tone OR just a ton of lemons - just kidding about the tons of lemons...but knowing me I'll probably throw a few in there) but I decided to go with my initial route and...well, you'll see. I'm a little curious to see what people think about it.

As a always, many sweet thank yous to my lovely betas, Fanpire4000 and Tweety4be. My ladies kick ass!

And the usual disclaimer: Don't own...

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By the time Chloe pulled into her space in her building's garage, she was practically bursting with humiliation. Her face felt like it was going to stay red forever and her nerves were shot. _Am I in an alternate universe where I just say stupid, random nonsense? _She wasn't sure what embarrassed her most during her study session with Derek – there was, frankly, too much crap to choose from.

Grabbing her discarded jacket from the passenger seat, she balled it up, buried her face in it and screamed her little heart out. _Okay, I feel a little better after that. _Of course, three little words had her cringing all over again.

"...pounding those beavers..."

_Ugh. Why was I born with a mouth? First the stuttering, now the word diarrhea. What the hell?_

Chloe couldn't remember her mind being so evil. It just kept replaying the most cringe-worthy moments over and over again. She just wanted to forget the block of time between leaving her drama class to the time she arrived home. But that, unfortunately, wasn't going to happen.

So, Chloe did the only thing a person could do in the face of great humiliation and embarrassment- she needed to talk to someone else who was feeling the exact same way.

_Mila._

Mila called a few times while Chloe was in the library, and left her a half a dozen "OMG!", "I'm such a spaz!" and "Why Me?" texts. Clearly, Mila was mortified with her behavior when Simon chatted with them. So, when Chloe ran into her room, yelling a greeting to Melinda over her shoulder, she grabbed her phone and called her friend.

Before Chloe even heard the first ring, Mila answered.

"Why! Why am I such a SPAZ?" Then Mila launched into her spiral of shame – reliving every horrifying second of Simon talking to her, to the part where she muttered some non-answer, then to where she fled as fast as possible. Really, Chloe wasn't exactly sure what the big deal was. Yes, Mila didn't act like she probably did in her daydreams but she just appeared shy to Simon. It's not like she put her whole freaking foot in her mouth and said, "POUNDING THOSE BEAVERS!" But Chloe also realized that Mila's personality leaned a little on the dramatic side and having a crush with the intensity Mila had for Simon, definitely magnified every emotion, especially embarrassment.

"Did he say anything when I ran away?" Mila asked in a quiet voice.

"No, but he did look concerned. I told him you weren't feeling well. A cold. Don't worry, he totally bought it."

"Oh my God. Thank you, Chloe. What would I do without you?" Mila seemed to feel a little better, definitely less panicky. "So, how was your study time with Derek?"

"Do you have a good chunk of time to spare?" Chloe then described what happened, rehashing every tiny little detail. She was sure she was only going to confide in Mila about her experience, maybe Rae as well, she was too embarrassed to tell anyone else. _Why have more people than necessary know I'm a freakshow who also moonlights as a verbal spaz? _

Chloe knew she made the right call, confiding in Mila. The girl was an amazing listener. She was empathetic and mortified and abashed right alongside Chloe, and she didn't laugh once, even though an objective observer would have, at the very least, giggled in nervous horror.

"So, were you checking him out?" Mila asked innocently.

"What? Who?" Chloe said.

"Derek. You said he caught you staring at him. Were you checking him out?" Mila repeated.

"W-What? Checking him out? That's crazy! " Chloe said, slightly panicked.

"It's not crazy, Chloe," Mila chuckled. "I wouldn't blame you if you did. Yes, I know most girls crush out on the more obvious guys, but I could see how someone would... I don't know, find him kind of hot."

"Hot?" Chloe squeaked. "No way! Nope. No way! I mean, he's just so – maybe if he was nice, but he's..." she trailed off helplessly.

"Yes, his personality is definitely an obstacle," Mila offered. "But he's got an amazing body, apparently. Amber said she saw him with his shirt off in football practice and she just about fainted."

"Amber, from our drama class?" Chloe said in disbelief. Of course, Chloe already suspected what was hidden underneath Derek's thin shirt.

"Oh, yeah. She snuck down to the field during the team's practice to quote, 'Check out the hot meat'. I guess it was warm out and Derek took off his jersey and she pretty much drooled on sight. She was a little obsessed with him for about a week."

"Obsessed? Amber was?" Chloe was having a rough time wrapping all this information up in her mind.

"Yeah, but you know how she is. She has a new crush every few days and he didn't give her the time of day, so..." Chloe heard muffled sounds on Mila's side. "Oh shoot! I gotta go, my mom needs help with dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, Chloe."

Automatically, Chloe muttered her goodbye. Her mind was still reeling with her conversation with Mila – actually, her mind was still reeling from the last three days.

_All because of Derek._

…_..._

The school was buzzing the next day from the anticipated football game. It was a unusual experience for Chloe, her last school was an alternative art school and had no sports, and the schools prior to that had teams that sucked. So, with all the giant, hand-made posters aligning the walls and jerseys and letterman's jackets flashing about, Chloe felt like a foreigner suffocating on school spirit.

Thankfully, she hadn't seen Derek in the halls all morning. She was hoping when she did see him again, he would be his usual ignoring self. _That way, I could just pretend I didn't completely make a fool out of myself in front of him._ She mentally crossed her fingers and prayed that would be the case.

Her morning went by fast and she soon found herself making her way to the cafeteria. Grabbing a sandwich, she spotted Rae, who sat with a few of her friends and walked over to join them. Murmuring hellos and exchanging the usual pleasantries, Chloe settled in, giggling at their quick banter.

"Uh-oh," Rae muttered, her voice cutting through the table's laughter. "Here comes the wicked witch...or, should I say, bitch of Roosevelt High."

Chloe looked across to where Rae prompted and saw Tori being dragged by Liz playfully by the arm. It looked like Liz was making the rounds to each table, and Chloe could only guess it was to check to see if everyone was going to the game, and Rae was right, they were steadily approaching their table. Tori looked as if she would rather be doing anything else at the moment, but she still allowed Liz to pull her along.

_Best friends_, Chloe thought with amazement. It was so jarring to see them side by side. They were both of similar height and build but they couldn't have looked any more different, especially with Liz dressed in her cheer uniform. Studying them, Chloe couldn't help but think they would be perfectly cast as the angel and devil in some movie, sitting on a protagonist's shoulder, whispering advice.

"Hey, guys," Liz said excitedly, "just a reminder about the game tonight." She quickly launched into her football game speech, completely oblivious to the hateful glares being traded between Rae and Tori, who had decidedly hung back from the table.

Finishing her spiel, Liz's gaze focused on Chloe. "Hey, have you met Tori yet?" she asked, her face tilting questioningly. Chloe shook her head and Liz barely began the introductions when Tori interrupted her, eyes flicking towards Rae.

"I hate to say this, Rachelle," Tori said slowly, her voice dripping with mock concern. "But there won't be any concession stands open at the game." She had a wicked smile planted on her face. "No hot dogs or burgers or fries or whatever else you inhale on your spare time," she finished, with a laugh. "So sorry."

Rae stood up abruptly, her chair screeching against the linoleum floor, her fists clenched at her sides. The cafeteria had gone deadly silent, instantly noticing the tension between the two girls.

"Pretty cocky with a table in between us, aren't you, Victoria?" Rae said with a sneer and Chloe thought that Tori should definitely feel grateful for the table, especially with the scary look Rae was giving her.

Tori snorted derisively and didn't look the least bit intimidated. She opened her mouth to retort but Liz quickly grabbed her best friend's arm.

"Please, no, Tori – let's just go, okay?" Tori's eyes narrowed angrily at Rae but hearing Liz's soft plea, nodded curtly and walked away. Liz's head turned to catch Chloe's eyes, her expression regretful, as she mouthed, "I'm sorry."

Instantly, their table exploded in agitated talk, with Rae's voice dominating the conversation. Rae was pissed. _Understandably so, _Chloe thought. She watched as Liz gently led her friend away, whispering in her ear. Tori's usual confident walk was replaced with an angry, stiff gait and Chloe couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to Tori's anger, the way her eyes flashed when she looked at Rae – it wasn't just jealousy. _It was definitely more than that._

…_..._

Thoughts of Rae and Tori's confrontation kept Chloe's mind occupied as she made her way to the library for her study period. She wisely waited until the next period started, just so there would be no chance of running into Derek, in case he spent his lunch in the library again. She brought her laptop with her, busying herself with her set design work until she headed over to her history class and the hour passed quickly.

She felt the, now very familiar, tingle of anxiety flutter across her skin as she walked closer her history class and she immediately reprimanded herself. _Don't worry. He'll just ignore me like he usually does. We'll just pretend the library incident never happened. Oh my God, I just referred myself as 'we.' It's official – I'm losing my mind. _

Chloe was so distracted with her inner monologue, she didn't see Derek approaching the doorway from the opposite direction. Walking brusquely, she almost bowled right into him.

"Whoa. Trying to smash into me again?"

Startled, Chloe blinked up at him, her face registering her absolute shock. "I-I—"

"You know," his voice rumbled, "I'm still waiting for an apology from the last time."

"I-wait, what?" she said, taken aback.

"The last time," he said with a sigh. He was looking at her like he was questioning her intelligence. Again."When you ran into me. In the hallway."

Chloe felt her mood switch from bewildered to irate in about half a second. "I – hey, you ran into me, too." she said stiffly. "It takes two to tango, buddy."

"Buddy?" His eyebrows furrowed. "Believe me, Chloe," he grunted, "we are not buddies." Then he breezed past her through the door.

"It's called a figure of speech," she muttered to herself, following him into class, then settling into her seat. "Assface."

The majority of class went by without incident. They both returned to acting as if the other didn't exist and Chloe preferred it that way. Until, of course, at the end of class, Mr. Rosen began his hyping-the-big-game lecture.

"...and I know our guys are going to do us proud," Mr. Rosen said, gesturing at Derek. "They're going to hammer..." he said, smacking his fist into his palm to reiterate his point."And pummel..." Smack! "And nail that other team."

Chloe groaned internally and shrunk in her seat. Her teacher's verbiage was way too reminiscent of her foot-to-mouth "pounding" comment and she could feel a steady blush rise to her face. _Well, it could have been worse. At least he didn't say beaver._

"Those Franklin Beavers!" he finished, with another loud smack.

_Fan-freaking-tastic._

Almost against her will, her eyes shot towards Derek who was already watching her, a knowing look on his face. Chloe quickly looked away but not before catching the first twitch of a smile on his face and she instantly felt her cheeks grow hotter. Resisting the urge to crawl under her desk and hide, Chloe closed her eyes and willed herself to her happy place – which was pretty much anywhere but where she was at the moment – until the bell rang and she fled from the classroom.

…...

"Oh my God, there's hardly any good seats left," Mila cried, gazing up the stadium. It was filling up fast. "And we even got here early," she sighed.

"There's plenty of seats left, there just a little high is all," Mila's friend, Jen, reasoned. Ashley, Mila's other friend, nodded along with Chloe.

"Come on," Jen urged, linking her arms with Chloe and Mila's. "No time like the present, ladies." Jen then proceeded to drag them up the steep stadium steps, which was little difficult considering how crowded it was. The only options left for them were a row of seats little higher than Mila's liking but they still had a great view.

Settling into their seats, the girls chatted a little but Chloe noticed Mila was distractedly scanning the crowd.

"Do you see him?" Chloe asked.

Mila smiled shyly and rolled her eyes. "Am I really that obvious?" Both Jen and Ashley nodded exaggeratedly, giggling at their friend's predictable thinking. "It's a little pathetic, huh?"

"No, not at all. I think it's sweet," Chloe said, nudging her friend playfully. "And, hey, we can help."

They all began playing an impromptu I-spy game, the prize being the first one to spot Simon, which was crazy hard considering the stadium was almost completely packed. Chloe did see Tori, who stood out in her black clothes, surrounded by her computer friends this time, instead of her goth troupe. And Chloe easily spotted Liz with her squad, cheering her heart out.

"I think that's Simon and Derek's dad," Mila whispered, pointing to a few rows down. "And that must be Tori's dad next to him."

Chloe peered over to where Mila directed and saw two middle-aged Asian men. It was hard to get a good look at their faces, considering they were practically facing away from them, but Chloe recognized the familiar, handsome bone structure on the one who, Chloe guessed, was Simon's father. The gentleman next to him was slightly leaner and taller, but there was something in the way he held himself that reminded Chloe of Tori.

"I win!" Jen squealed, gesturing to a row of seats closest to the field. All of them glanced down, and sure enough, Chloe could see Simon's sandy blonde hair, wearing a jersey with name 'Souza' on the back of it. _Sporting his brother's jersey, _Chloe thought. She didn't know why, but the sight made her smile.

Chloe glanced over towards Mila and found her friend with a slightly, dreamy look on her face. _God, she has it bad for that guy, _Chloe thought affectionately.

"Okay," started Jen, she had to practically shout, it was getting progressively louder where they sat. "Can someone please explain the rules of football to me?"

Ashley volunteered and captured the attention of all three girls, since none of them had a clue. She was in the middle of explaining the score system and the downs when a roar from the crowd indicated the the players must have arrived on the field.

People jumped to their feet – some even stood on their seats – going nuts, cheering their faces off. Chloe couldn't see anything but heads and backs and she cursed how short she was.

"How long do people usually stand in the beginning of these things?" Chloe shouted over the crowd to Mila.

"I don't know," Mila yelled in her ear and she stood up on her chair to peek over the crowd, then bent down to add, "I think the game is about to start. Try standing on your seat."

Chloe did what she suggested but still couldn't see anything but the back of people's heads and glimpses of patches of green from the football field. Finally, when she worried that she would be deaf from all the screaming – without even seeing one second of the game – people began taking their seats.

Sitting back down, Chloe gazed onto the field. All she could see were anonymous looking players. In her eyes, they just seemed to be running around and tackling each other and falling all over the place. She was quickly becoming bored when the offense switched out with the defense and Chloe quickly spotted Derek. He was easy to find, he seemed like a giant among a bunch of scrawny teenagers. Chloe didn't know anything about football, but as she watched him play, even she could tell Derek was a great player – he seemed faster, aggressive, his movements more precise and he was everywhere the ball was, like he just intuitively knew where it would be.

By the third quarter, her school was dominating the game and time went by relatively quickly, especially when Chloe and her friends paid less attention to game and more to chatting and gossiping. However, whenever Derek was on field, Chloe couldn't help but watch him, wincing every time he'd tackle an unfortunate soul who was unlucky enough to run the football.

Chloe couldn't help but feel sorry for anyone on the receiving end of one of his tackles. And almost on cue with her thought, Derek took down a player with the ball. The hit was so hard, she could hear the crack of their helmets from where she sat. A collective groan echoed from the crowd as other teammates piled on top of Derek and the downed player. Slowly, the pile of players got up, with Derek being the last to get to his feet – the boy he tackled didn't move.

For a split second, everyone froze; then, tearing off his helmet, Derek shouted over to the sidelines, hurriedly waving over the medical staff. The crowd rustled with anxiety – something was wrong.

Chloe heard a soft gasp from Mila, she turned to her dark-haired friend. "What?"

Mila's eyes were wide with worry. "His back," she said softly, shaking her head. "The guy's back, it looks...twisted. Wrong somehow."

Squinting, Chloe looked to the still form and she could see how the angle of his back seemed...off, just like Mila said. Anxiety seemed to spike in her breath as she watched a medical team check over the boy. Trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation, Chloe looked to the people around her; they all seemed concerned too. Her eyes glanced over to Derek's father; she couldn't see his face fully but the set of his jaw and shoulders were tense, he nodded stiffly when his brother whispered in his ear and they both immediately made their way down the stairs.

The next few minutes were a blur of activity. An ambulance shortly arrived as did a firetruck. Football players were cleared from the field along with the refs as the medical personnel painstakingly moved the boy to a stretcher. It seemed to take forever. Chloe could only guess it was because of the severity of his injuries and she desperately hoped he would be okay – not only for his and his family's sake but for Derek's as well.

Her eyes sought Derek again. He was off on the sidelines, his back to the crowd, helmet in his hand, every line of his body was tight. Chloe could only imagine how helpless he felt, how surreal this moment was for him. _How guilty..._

She watched him closely. Noticing he didn't take his eyes off the fallen boy, nor did he move from where he stood – not even when the boy was carted away to the awaiting ambulance.

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	6. Bad News

A/N: Hola Y'all! Thanks so much for your continued interest in my story and a huge, sloppy, semi-gross kiss to those who reviewed! I have some good news and bad news. Bad news first: This chapter is kinda short. Good news: I'm going to update faster than usual, probably in a week, instead of my usual two. Yippee! Anyhoo, I wanted to answer a couple of questions a few of you lovely people had. Someone asked where I got my idea for this story. Mostly from the tons of AU Twilight fics I've read (and there are tons and tons of them!). Twilight fic-ers write crazy-ass stuff. I mean, they take the characters and put them in all sorts of situations - and it just got me thinking how I could do that with Darkest Powers. Another question was if I'll bring in characters from Kelley Armstrong's other books - the answer is no, just DP, I haven't read all of Kelley's books yet, so I don't want to guess and get them all terribly wrong. Also, there was a little confusion about if everyone was all human in this story because of Derek breaking the kid's back. I admit, it is a little confusing and the answer is - yes, they are all human, no powers. I wanted to have a few parallels to the actual DP books and I thought that one would be a good one to have. If any of you have any other questions, just PM me and I'll be more than happy to answer them - unless they're spoilers, I can't in good conscious give those out ;)

A giant thank you to my betas Tweety4be (who did this chapter) and Fanpire4000. My ladies are rocktabulous (yes, I made that word up)!

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers. *sniffle*

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Chloe loved spending the weekend with her aunt Lauren, which she usually did when her dad was traveling during the weekends. Their time together was filled with frivolous shopping, tons of good food and lots of sappy movies watched in her aunt's comfy family room. They would always call her uncle Ben, teasing and begging him to immediately jump on a plane to visit them. And he would always laugh his crazy laugh, reminding Chloe so much of her mother, it would make her heart break and soar at the same time. Towards the end of her stay, her aunt would pull out old photo albums and they would pour through them – her aunt sharing sweet stories about each picture until they were both sniffling through tears. It was always healing and refreshing, spending time with her mother's sister.

_But not this weekend..._

The image of Derek, off on the sidelines, watching the boy he tackled with deadly efficiency being rushed off the field, seemed permanently burned behind her eyelids. She couldn't shake it. Couldn't shake the sickening crack of their helmets and bodies colliding – the way that poor boy lay broken on the ground. And she couldn't imagine how Derek was doing, how he was handling it – the inevitable feelings of responsibility and guilt.

Chloe hoped that the boy was okay, that his injuries weren't serious but her instincts knew better. And every time she closed her eyes she could still see him lying on the ground.

She had called Mila a few times, to see if she heard anything new about the boy's condition, but Mila was just as much in the dark as Chloe. She even googled the local news but the only thing she found was a little blurb about a high school football accident but nothing more than that.

A few times, she wished she had exchanged numbers with Derek, just to check up on him, but when she thought of how little they knew each other and wondered what exactly she would say to him – she quickly dismissed the idea as stupid.

But she couldn't stop thinking about him. She just couldn't.

And she couldn't stop thinking about how his dad looked – tense and worried as Derek's uncle whispered hurriedly to him. She thought of Simon and his friendly smile. _How was he doing with all this?_ Everyone knew how close the brothers were, it was obvious by how they interacted with each other, and she could see Simon being troubled right alongside his brother. She even thought of bitchy Tori's reaction to all this, after all, she was at the game as well. _Does she even give a crap about what happened? _All of these thoughts and images distracted Chloe from really enjoying her weekend. But she and her aunt kept busy and the weekend flew by.

Before she knew it, it was Sunday evening and her dad had just arrived home, laden with gifts and awkward conversations. They shared a quiet dinner with Melinda and watched some bad TV, before Chloe excused herself for bed early, wanting to ready herself mentally for school the next day. She was feeling anxious and hopeful that she would know more about the boy's injuries and maybe find out how Derek was doing as well.

…...

As Chloe entered the main doors to school, she automatically scanned the hallways for familiar faces, but it was just a sea of teenagers rushing to get to their classes. She thought she would run into someone she knew on the way to her locker, and maybe get some fresh info, but she didn't see anyone and she quickly made her way to Algebra before she was late.

As Mrs. Barnes droned on about abstract, why-in-the-hell-do-I-have-to-know-this, math problems, Chloe was quickly formulating a plan. She needed to talk to someone on the inside, someone who may have firsthand knowledge of what was going on. The most obvious choice was Liz, of course, but she needed to make sure she didn't appear too nosy or pushy, just concerned_._

As soon as the bell rang, Chloe sprang from her seat, making record time to her English class she shared, conveniently, with Liz. But after waiting impatiently outside their classroom, Liz hadn't shown up yet, and Chloe thought maybe she wasn't at school today, and entered the room before the bell rang. However, she missed her chance since Liz had waltzed through the door just as class began and Chloe would have to wait until after class to talk with her. After several readings of Shakespeare's sonnets, Chloe was packing her things and getting ready to glue herself to Liz's side. The moment class finished, she had strategically placed herself to walk out of the classroom with Liz. The other girl greeted her sweetly and asked how Chloe's weekend was and Chloe knew a perfect opening when she saw one.

"Oh, the weekend was good. I spent it with my aunt, we ate like pigs," Chloe said, smiling. Then, swallowing a little nervously, she added, "But the game, is the – do you know if that guy is okay?"

Liz looked down, her face troubled. "No, he's not, Chloe." She stopped walking and pulled Chloe into a small alcove near a window. "He's...God, they – the doctors – they think...there's a good chance he won't ever walk again." Liz's voice cracked a little and her eyes seemed to glisten.

Chloe just stared at her in disbelief – Liz's words bouncing incoherently in her brain. She shouldn't have been surprised, anyone who saw him lying on the field would intuitively know something was seriously wrong. But she _was_ surprised, she realized. She had still clung to the hope that everything was going to be okay.

"A-A-And Derek?" Chloe automatically asked.

"And Derek, what?" a voice snapped.

Chloe swung her head around and locked eyes with Tori, who looked absolutely murderous.

She stormed towards them, standing uncomfortably close to Chloe. "And Derek, what?" she demanded.

"Tori, please," Liz said softly. "This is Chloe, she was just concerned about that guy at the game."

"Then why was she asking about Derek?" Tori demanded, her eyes wide with accusation.

"He's my history partner and I – "

"And you what? Thought because you're partnered with him, you have some kind of ownership over his _private _business?" she accused.

"N-No, I – "

"No? You're just curious then? Why? Because everyone's curious about Derek?" Tori seemed to get angrier with every passing second.

"I'm not –"

"I have a question for you, _Chloe_. What's it to you?"

"I'm worried about him, okay," Chloe blurted.

Tori's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Liz looked surprised as well. Hell, even Chloe was surprised by her own statement. But Tori recovered quickly. "Worried about him?" she said, her voice dripping with disbelief. "No one worries about Derek," she stated flatly, "except his_ family_."

"No, I am –"

"Or maybe," Tori interrupted, "the word you really should be using, instead of worry, is gossip. Right? You want the icky details about what went down? Is that why you're talking to Liz? Because you know she'll be privy to that information, then you can spread it around, right?" Arms crossed, she scrutinized Chloe from head to toe, as if she would be able to read the petite girl's motives by how she looked.

Chloe felt a tiny stab of guilt. She did talk to Liz specifically because of her closeness to Derek's family but it was not to gossip. _Never to gossip._

"Believe it or not, I am worried about him," Chloe stated firmly, refusing to be intimidated.

Liz placed a hand gently on her Tori's arm. "I know Chloe," she said with confidence. "She means what she says."

For a long moment, Tori seemed to struggle with this concept, until she sighed, "Fine." She looked at Chloe with feigned disinterest. "So, what do you want to know?"

Surprised by the sudden turn-around, Chloe blinked a few times, before asking, "Um, how is he doing?"

"A young man may never walk again," she snapped sarcastically. "How do you think he's doing?"

"Tori," Liz pleaded. "Please..."

"Fine. But whatever I say," Tori warned, "I expect you to keep your mouth shut."

Chloe nodded.

Sighing again, Tori said, "Naturally, he feels bad. And he's pretty unpleasant to be around right now – more so than usual. He's...taking it pretty hard." She crossed her arms defensively again. "That's all I'm comfortable saying right now," she said stiffly.

"Okay. Thank you, Tori," Chloe said slowly. "And..." She paused, unsure what to say. _Is there anything __I can do? Can I help in some way? Can you tell him __I'm..._No, none of those statements would be helpful. "...and I won't say anything to anyone," she finished, before she said goodbye and walked away.

…...

Chloe's head felt like it was in a fog for the next few hours, she just couldn't focus on anything.

_He may never walk again..._

It was too surreal of an idea for her to understand – how life could change so irrevocably for someone in a moment. She knew this phenomena first hand... her mother's accident, it changed the course of her life forever in an awful, drastic way, and even after all these years, she knew she would never understand the "why" of it.

She'd seen Derek in her history class. He looked like he normally did, disinterested and aloof, but Chloe thought she detected something different about him. Of course, it could have been her imagination, but he seemed to be vacant – his body was present but the fire that made him who he was, was... missing. _Like a ghost._

Their eyes had met briefly in class and when he looked at her, he seemed to come back to himself, the absent spark flashing for a moment, but he quickly looked away before Chloe could be sure.

"Chloe?"

"Huh?" Chloe looked over to see Mila's worried expression in the dim theater of their drama class. Chloe realized that her friend must have been talking to her and she hadn't heard a word she said. "I'm sorry, Mila. What were saying?"

"Are you okay? You seem really distracted," Mila whispered, then she looked around the class and lowered her voice. "It's about what happened at the game, isn't it? It's awful." She sighed, "I think the entire school knows about the guy's condition the moment Amber heard about it."

Rubbing her forehead, Chloe nodded. "Yeah, everyone pretty much knows about it."

"I wonder how Derek's doing? I saw Simon earlier today and..." Mila swallowed hard, "he was quiet and withdrawn, not himself. Even Tori has been acting different," Mila said, sounding surprised. Chloe remembered her conversation with Tori – how defensive she was, how...protective. _So, she really does care._

Mila turned her large, brown eyes towards Chloe. "But... anything could happen. Miracles happen all the time," she said with determination and Chloe felt a tug of appreciation for her friend. She was just about to agree with Mila but was distracted by an excited looking Amber scurrying their way.

"Oh, Holy Shit, you guys," Amber was practically hyperventilating with excitement. "Have you seen the new guy in our class? Oh, my freaking stars and garters, he is so unbelievably HOT!"

"What?" Chloe asked, relieved that Amber wasn't going to start gossiping about the football incident. Apparently, that was old news to her.

"Who –" Mila looked around towards the theater seats, "Where is he?"

"He's..."Amber whispered, searching the area with a pointed finger. "Oh, there he is. He's coming up on stage with Mrs. O'Donnell."

Sure enough, a dark-haired boy was following their teacher onto the well-lit stage. Looking closely at him, Chloe could not for the life of her see why Amber was making such a big deal. He was okay looking, she guessed, but noting his arrogant swagger suggested he definitely thought otherwise.

Chloe looked over at Mila, and the way her friend's face was scrunched up, her head tilted – she was quite sure Mila was thinking the same thing.

"Oh, my God. He is something else!" Amber was actually fanning herself with her hand. "Doesn't he look like that hot-ass actor who plays Damon Salvatore?"

"Ian Somerhalder?" Mila said, in an incredulous voice.

_Yeah, if Ian So__merhalder got a face transplant, _thought Chloe with a snort.

"Um, I'm really not seeing it, Amber," Mila said, shaking her head.

"What!" Amber looked at Mila as though the black-haired girl had just started speaking Swahili. "You're kidding!"

"I'm inclined to agree with Mila," Chloe said, stifling a small smile when she saw the goofy look of shock on Amber's face.

"You guys are crazy. He looks just like him! He's totally got that smoking hot vampire vibe. I mean, look at him –" Amber continued with this rein of thought and didn't appear like she would be stopping anytime soon.

Sensing Amber was on the verge of one of her famous, vampire rants – which have been reported to last for hours – Chloe groaned internally. _Oh, God, she's just getting st__arted. Must not succumb to the urge of poking my eyes out with a dull pencil. Must not...poke...my eyes...out. _Chloe looked desperately over at Mila, who had a similar look of panic on her face and mouthed "help" to her friend.

Mila gave her a small nod before interrupting the gushing redhead. "Oh, Amber, you're wasting your breath on Chloe. She's _so _not going to get it." She flung an arm over Amber's shoulder, whispering conspiratorially. "I've already told you she's totally a werewolf kind of gal."

"Werewolf?" Amber rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well, I guess I won't have a problem calling dibs on the new guy." She looked like she might launch into another diatribe but class was called to attention by Mrs. O'Donnell.

"Okay, everyone, we all know our jobs and we will get to them shortly, but I do need to introduce our new student. He is from the great state of Illinois, from Chicago, to be exact. And I must say he has a very impressive theater background from his previous school. I can't help but feel that he will be a valuable addition to..."

Mrs. O'Donnell proceeded in her overly dramatic fashion, causing Chloe to wonder how a thirty second introduction could be dragged out for five minutes. _And she hadn't even gotten to his friggin' name yet. _CatchingMila's eye, her friend smiled and rolled her eyes a little – of course, Amber, was absolutely riveted.

Finally, their teacher got to the point. "...and without, further ado, I present our newest member and our second-string Tristan...Royce Banks." Royce, who had been looking very comfortable with all the attention, bowed to his classmates – a cocky smirk planted on his face.

"So, everyone," Mrs. O'Donnell continued. "I would all like you to come on stage and introduce yourselves. Let's make Royce feel welcome."

The class meandered onto the stage, introducing themselves one at a time. Amber had planted herself firmly between Chloe and Mila, trying not to appear too excited as they climbed the stairs to the stage.

Mildly interested, Chloe watched Amber give Royce a winning smile as the two exchanged introductions. He in turn gave Amber a wink that had the red-head raising an eyebrow suggestively and they both stared at each other inappropriately for way too long. Chloe gagged a little.

Always friendly, Mila introduced herself quickly, then it was Chloe's turn. Automatically, she held her hand out.

"Hi. I'm Chloe Saunders."

His gaze turned towards hers and his eyes widened a little as he took in her appearance. "Royce Banks," he said with a small smile. His cool hand grasped hers, applying more pressure than was necessary. "Very nice to meet you, Chloe." He seemed to study her face for a moment, as if trying to memorize every tiny detail of her features. It felt strangely intimate and uncomfortably invasive.

She yanked her hand out of his grasp, feeling an overwhelming need to be free of his touch, his presence. His eyebrows rose slightly and his smile widened. Chloe shivered. There was something so eerie about a person who smiled without warmth or humor.

He moved on to the next person and Chloe was relieved their little moment had passed. She looked over at Mila who appeared a little puzzled by the interaction and just over her shoulder was Amber, who's eyes were narrowed with suspicion. Chloe shrugged, with in an expression that clearly said 'you have nothing to worry about.'

From the corner of her eye, Chloe watched him warily, though. There was something...off about him. Something creepy. And she didn't like it at all.

Not one little bit.

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	7. Confrontation

A/N: Hola Readers! Thanks again for taking time to read my story and a ginormous hug for those who reviewed. I must admit, I'm a little nervous about this chapter. Actually, this chapter in particular is why I started this story, these scenes came to me while I was writing Patience, and they would not leave me alone. HOWEVER, I have a feeling some of you may be a little annoyed with me afterwards. Ah well, we'll see...I'm going to try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but my life is getting hectic again and my goal is to have the next chapter up in less than two weeks. IT WILL HAPPEN! Anyway, please enjoy!

Thanks to my awesomely, lovely betas: Tweety4be and Fanpire4000! They really make this story readable!

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers...at all.

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The next few days went by smoothly for Chloe. She had managed to finish most of her homework, hang out with her friends, spend some rare quality time with her dad, and get acquainted with her new, fabulous Photoshop program.

Life was easy.

Except when it came to Derek.

They didn't have any contact. They didn't exchange hellos or even look at each other in class or in the hallways. But she couldn't help catch little glimpses of him here and there, and what she saw bothered her. That dull, lifeless look still lingered in his eyes, like he had completely withdrawn into himself and it made her stomach knot with worry.

And to complicate her already _complicated_ feelings – today was Thursday, the day she met up with him for their project, and she had no idea how to act around him. That didn't mean she didn't have a plan...because she absolutely did. Her plan was to act as normal as possible, not bring up the football game, hopefully not stutter like porky pig on crack, and not say anything really, really embarrassing.

Knowing herself, however, she was pretty sure she was going to fail at least one of those rules...if not two.

She went over her plan with Mila the night before. Her friend not only agreed with the simple brilliance of it but also had undying faith in Chloe's abilities. Chloe wasn't so sure.

And there was also the lingering feeling of uneasiness from Tori's words the last time they spoke.

"...he's pretty unpleasant to be around right now – more so than usual."

_More unpleasant? How is that even possible? That cannot be a good sign for things to come. No, it'll be fine, just take a deep breath, play it cool and everything will be okay. Of course, I don't think I've ever been successful at playing it cool in my life, but there's always a first time for everything, right? Crap, I'm so screwed. No, no, it'll be okay. Just inhale...exhale...inhale –_

"Chloe? You okay?"

Chloe jumped a little before turning and meeting Rae's eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I'm great."

"You sure?" Rae's eyes crinkled with concern. "You haven't touched your lunch and you're breathing kind of heavy."

"Oh, yeah, it's this new breathing thing I've been trying...uh, out." Chloe's said weakly. Then, attempting to deflect her lame excuse, she asked, "So, what were you guys saying?"

"We were just talking about heading over Renee's after school," Rae said, flicking crumbs off her jeans. "You're more than welcome to join us."

"I can't," Chloe sighed dejectedly. "I'm working on my History project after school with, you know, Derek."

"Oh, that's right. I totally forgot," Rae said slowly, leaning back into her seat. "How's that going anyway? Have you guys worked with each other since the accident?"

"No, this will be the first time we'll see each other," Chloe said quietly.

"Well, I'm guessing it might be a bit awkward," Rae said cryptically.

"Yeah, to say the least." Then, noticing the knowing look Rae was giving her, Chloe asked, "Wait, what do you mean?"

Rae leaned in closer to Chloe. "I have Chemistry with Brady and a bunch of his stupid friends, and I overheard him bragging about getting into it with Derek in the locker rooms." Rae paused when she saw Chloe's eyebrows jump in surprise. "Apparently, this happened a few days ago. But Brady kept going on and on about getting into Derek's face about – I don't know – not wanting to play football anymore, or something. Well, I guess it got pretty heated and there was a lot of yelling and the argument almost came to blows. I guess, the coach came in just in time to break them up. "

"What?" Chloe gasped.

Shaking her head, Rae said, "Who knows what was really said. I mean, the school tries to present the football team to be this, like, united front but now it's coming out that the best player on the team and the quarterback can't stand each other." Rae shrugged. "Personally, I think Brady is full of shit. I mean, who in their right mind would go toe to toe with Derek. That's just nuts."

"But...Derek, not playing anymore." Chloe was still trying to understand the implications of what Rae had just said. _But the universities that want him, the scholarships, the opportunities...his future._

"I know, it's pretty intense, huh." Rae glanced at her watch. "I gotta go. I need to talk to one of my teachers before class starts." Flicking her curls out of her face, Rae gathered her things and said a quick goodbye to the table. She turned to give Chloe a smile. "I'll call you later, girl."

Chloe absently waved goodbye to her friend. Scanning the cafeteria, her eyes searched for Mila. She wasn't surprised that she didn't see her. Mila and her friends often had lunch in a cute cafe a few blocks from the school. But thinking of Mila made Chloe automatically think of Simon. She searched for him next. He wasn't there, but his girlfriend was – giggling with a group of girls.

Not feeling like sitting still or chatting anymore, Chloe left the lunchroom and slowly made her way to her locker, before heading to the library. She was still careful not to go too early to prevent any run-ins with Derek.

However, it didn't matter so much today. The moment she entered the library, her gaze instantly fell on Derek, who was approaching the doors. Their eyes met briefly, before he quickly looked away. Simon peered around his brother, a small smile planted on his face.

"Chloe?" He walked over to her. Derek hung back, his face a careful mask of no emotion. "What brings you to the library on this fine afternoon?"

Unable to help herself, Chloe smiled. It was easy to relax around Simon. Of course, the moment she looked at Derek's impassive features, she instantly felt on edge again. "Oh, this is my study hour and I usually spend it studying, you know, in the library because it's quiet and stuff." Chloe immediately felt a hot blush creeping up her neck as she realized how absolutely dumb she sounded.

Simon was grinning. "Naturally," he said, utterly amused. "Gotta love quiet and stuff."

"Yeah, because that's what happens in a library, right? Studying. And reading...you know, books and papers...and books." _Oh God, shutting up now._

Simon chuckled softly. "Yes, tons of books," he agreed. "So, what are you going to focus on in the quietness of the library today?" he teased.

"Well, I have an essay due in English in a few days or – I don't know – I may work on some design work for my Drama class," she shrugged and laughed. "Maybe if I'm feeling really brave I'll attempt a little math."

"Yeah, I attempt math all the time. Thankfully, Derek here doesn't mind helping me out, which is usually all the time," Simon said, pointing behind him where Derek stood.

Chloe flicked her eyes towards Derek, who was staring at the ground, looking completely uninterested in the conversation.

"So, drama? Do you like it?" Simon asked conversationally. Chloe could tell Simon wasn't asking because he wanted to know, but really to keep the atmosphere light. It wasn't surprising. Derek's silent brooding was definitely distracting and uncomfortable.

"I do, but I'm terrible at acting. I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of gal. I do the set designs, my friend Mila is the real actress in our class. But I love the creative aspect of it and because it's my favorite class and my last class, I have something to look forward to all day."

"That's cool," Simon said, still smiling, but looking at Simon closely, Chloe could see, just under his smile, the strain around his eyes. _He's stressed. And he must be spending his lunch with Derek to keep him company. _The idea only endeared him to her, that Simon was so supportive of his brother. And in a strange way, Derek had Tori as well, another person in his corner. It made her feel a little better about the situation, especially after what Rae had told her.

"Well," Chloe said quickly, "I'm sure you guys have to get to class now, because it's a school and there's classes in a school so..." She stopped herself before she could make the already stupid sounding sentence even more stupid. _Why can't I ever be smooth? Even a tiny bit._

"Yeah, we have to get going," Simon sighed regretfully. "But it was nice chatting with you. Hope to do it again soon, Chloe." He gave her a playful punch on the arm.

"Okay." She moved aside to let them pass. "Bye." Simon flashed her his signature grin, while Derek moved along without a word or a glance. Releasing a shaky breath, Chloe walked to her favorite spot, all the while wondering if she would ever be comfortable around Derek.

…_..._

The rest of the day went by quickly. Mr. Rosen did a fine job making the day's class interesting, and Chloe was mildly distracted from Derek's presence...for the most part. Drama went by quickly as well, mainly because Mrs. O'Donnell kept her busy as usual, and any downtime was spent chatting with Mila. However, much to her uneasiness, she had caught Royce eyeing her whenever he wasn't flirting with Amber. It wasn't the first time a guy had checked her out, even though she could probably count on one hand how many times she had noticed a boy looking at her, but this was different. It was a hungry look, a cold look, and it made Chloe feel completely uncomfortable, like she had been doused in something slimy and greasy.

Mila and Chloe were slowly making their way to the library after class ended, weaving through the rushing students who couldn't wait to get out of school.

"So, what do you think of Royce?" Chloe asked carefully.

Mila shrugged. "He's okay, I guess. He seems to be hitting it off with Amber."

Chloe nodded slowly at this. "Have you ever noticed him...looking at you, at all?"

"No, he's pretty tied up with Amber," Mila said smiling, shaking her head a little. "Of course, she's very demanding of his attention. She won't let any girl near him with a ten foot pole." Then, noticing Chloe's apprehension, she asked, "Why?"

"I don't know, he's – I've caught him watching me a few times and I wasn't sure if he was doing it to everybody or..." Chloe trailed off.

"Or if you're special?" Mila finished, smirking knowingly.

Not wanting Mila to get the wrong idea, Chloe rushed, "No, no, trust me it's not like that. He's _so_ not my type."

"Oh, and who's exactly your type, Chloe?" Mila asked playfully. They had stopped walking when they reached the library.

"Definitely not creepy. Or anyone who thinks way too much of himself, that's for sure," Chloe reassured, shivering a little when she imagined the look on Royce's face while he watched her.

Mila's expression changed from teasing to concerned in an instant. "Did he make you feel uncomfortable, Chloe? Is that the vibe you're getting?"

But before Chloe could answer, a few of Mila's friends approached them, chatting and laughing, and Chloe said a quick goodbye. Entering the library she made her way to their study room, apprehension building with every moment. When she reached the door, she hesitated a bit then took a giant breath and entered.

He was there already. His head down, looking through a stack of books.

"H-Hey," Chloe said quietly. Placing her bag on the large table, she shuffled over to the chair across from him and sat down.

He slowly lifted his head and met her gaze. Chloe barely had enough time to swallow the gasp in her throat. She had only seen him in passing, fleeting glimpses that didn't give her enough time to study his features or he had avoided her looks altogether. However, looking at him directly – her stomach clenched.

_His eyes. _His eyes had looked dull – lifeless – in those quick glances. _But now..._Now, she had a good, unobstructed look. There was no fight in them, no...hope – just an unsettling resolution, like he accepted something ugly and disturbing.

_It's so much worse than I thought._

The small ounce of determination she had carried into this room, was floundering. She needed to get it back. _Now._

With trembling hands, she reached into her bag and pulled out her books and laptop.

Clearing her throat, she flipped open her laptop, accessing a photo file. "So, I've been taking notes and researching all I can about our subject and I thought it might be kinda cool to do a photo montage of some of the weapons and catapults and defense mechanisms. And I also thought we could show areas or countries where this stuff was used." She anxiously licked her lips, trying to combat the sudden dryness in her mouth. "I'm doing something similar in my drama class, except it'll be projected on a giant screen. But we could do something like it, just smaller scale. I-I don't know, I thought it would be something a little different, something to compliment all the other parts of our project."

He was quiet – his eyes glued to the computer screen – and Chloe thought he may not answer. She opened her mouth to repeat herself but he nodded, then quickly looked down at the book opened in front of him.

"And since you did so much of the work already, I'll take care of putting it together myself. I have this awesome editing program that would be perfect for it," she finished quickly.

He was still for a moment, almost like he didn't hear her, then he just shrugged and returned to his book.

Hesitantly, Chloe opened the nearest book and began reading and taking notes. It was an uncomfortable quiet, and Chloe finally understood the phrase 'a deafening silence,' after about ten minutes, she noticed Derek hadn't flipped a single page in the book in front of him. When she risked a peek to his face, she saw he was just vacantly staring at the corner of the room. It was becoming painfully obvious that Derek was not in the frame of mind to do this right now. She didn't think it was fair to keep him here when he so clearly wanted to be elsewhere. He was too distracted, he needed to be with people he was close to, he needed to be with his family. Gathering her nerve, she readied herself to tell him so.

"Um, if you want, we could do this later," she said quietly.

His head snapped up. "What?"

"We don't have to do this now," she continued gently.

"What do you mean?" he rumbled, his eyes narrowing at her.

"Well, it doesn't seem like you...want to be here." When his mouth tightened into a scowl, she quickly interjected, "And that's okay, we don't have to do our project right this very second. We can wait until next week."

"Next week?" he said, and Chloe wasn't sure if it was his tone or the way he shifted in his seat, but she was suddenly on guard.

"Yes, next week would be fine," she said, trying to keep her voice light, friendly. "It's okay with me to postpone."

"Why wouldn't I want to do it now?" His voice was quiet, dangerously quiet – a slight edge to the syllables. She watched uneasily as his shoulders tensed under his shirt.

"I-I..."

"Why wouldn't I want to do it now?" he repeated, his voice sharper, harder.

Feeling like she just stepped onto a minefield but having no idea how she got there or, more importantly, how to get out, Chloe stammered, "W-Well, I just thought...with everything that's going on, m-maybe we should do this later."

"With everything that's going on?" he quietly prodded.

"Well, with the accident and..." Chloe didn't know how to finish that sentence. She tried again. "There's just a lot going on at the moment and it may not be the right time to work on this right now," she said as diplomatically as possible.

Derek folded his hands on the table, a posture that looked relaxed if it weren't for his hands gripped tight, white knuckles showing.

"The accident?" he said slowly.

_Oh, crap._

Chloe opened her mouth and decided to close it again. If she could have kicked herself at that moment, she would have.

"Are you referring to the game, Chloe?" His eyes locked onto hers and Chloe saw the missing spark flare up again – his green eyes looking anything but dull. She may have rejoiced in that moment, if it wasn't for the fact that the fiery look was brought on by anger – anger that was directed at her.

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you. I didn't even mean to bring up the game. I just thought– "

"You just what?" he snapped. "Just thought you could talk to me like I'm some little kid. Like some little boy."

Chloe's eyes widened. _What?_

"That was not my intention, Derek," she said steadily. "I would never –"

"What? Never presume to treat me different. Look at me different." His hands tightened around each other, like he was fighting to control them. "I know what everyone's saying about me – thinking about me."

Chloe was completely flabbergasted at this point. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Derek. No one I know is saying anything about you, except how awful the entire situation is for everyone."

"Well, you and your friends must be saints, or your seriously naive_._"The way he rolled the words around in his mouth, clearly indicated he thought she was full of it.

Chloe flushed at the jab. "Listen, I haven't heard anything of the sort, and I really don't know that many people at this school, but I honestly can't see how anyone would think you did something wrong," she pleaded. "There are dangers, playing such a rough sport and – what happened – it's not your fault."

He looked at her sharply. "So, it wasn't me that tackled that guy and broke his back?" he asked harshly. "It wasn't me who heard his bones _crack_ and _snap_ when I hit him? Because I'm pretty sure I heard and felt the very moment I broke him."

Closing her eyes, she tried not to show the revulsion on her face. She swallowed hard and said softly, "It was an accident. Just a horrible accident."

"Just a horrible accident," he said through gritted teeth. "What the hell would you know about horrible accidents?"

"My mother died in a horrible accident. A car accident," she blurted, surprising herself for admitting something so private. "Trust me, I know. The guy who hit my mom, he wasn't drunk or distracted. It was just raining and he..." Chloe's words died in her throat when she saw Derek's expression. If possible, he looked even more furious, which thoroughly confused her. Anytime she had opened up this part of herself to someone, it was always an awkward sympathy she saw, and soft words she heard or her least favorite emotion, pity. But never this reaction. He was visibly shaking with fury.

"A car accident," he said so softly, Chloe could barely make it out. "A fucking car accident."

"I – "

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he growled, his glare boring down on her.

"Wh – "

"Are you trying to score karmic brownie points or something?" He said, head tilted. "Or are you one of those annoying busybody's who has no life of your own so you jump feet first into other people's business?" His eyes squinted as he glowered at her. "I must say, Chloe, I'm a little surprised, I wouldn't have pegged you for that type."

"Dere– "

"So, what? What's next?" he said, leaning back in his chair, his voice taking a soft, chilling tone. "The next step is...what?"

"There is no next step," she said desperately, wondering how this conversation had gone so suddenly wrong. "I shouldn't have said anything. I just wanted...wanted...I'm sorry." Her heart was pounding, her breath spiked as her body instinctively readied itself to flee. For the first time, looking at his mutinous face, she was truly scared of him – not just some nervous anxiety – but real fear.

"You're right, Chloe," he growled, eyes blazing. "You shouldn't have said a fucking thing. I don't need your stupid little platitudes from your privileged little life. And I certainly don't need your pathetic, little sob story involving you and your mother and her _horrible accident_."

For a second, Chloe just sat there frozen with shock, gaping at him. She couldn't believe what she just heard. No one had ever said anything so hurtful to her, ever. Suddenly, the reality of the moment sunk in – his words sunk in – and it seemed like every molecule of air flew out of her lungs. It was like being kicked in the gut.

Instantly, her eyes stung and her throat burned and she knew she had to get out of there. Get out now before the tears started falling. She stood up abruptly, knocking her chair down as she groped for her things with shaking hands. Her lungs seemed to contract as she gulped for air and already her sight was blurring with tears. With her head down, she swung around and immediately ran out of the room.

She was hardly aware of walking, her body had taken over, automatically navigating through the halls of the school, while she fought to keep her tears in check. _Just hold on. Don't cry. Not until we get to the car. Not yet. Not yet._

By the time she flew past the main doors, the tears were coming down hard. She sprinted to her car, frantically trying to clear her vision, her eyes were still so blurry. It seemed like every tear that fell, was immediately replaced with another.

Reaching her car, her hands were shaking so badly she could barely unlock her door. When she finally managed to get into her car, she did something she had never done before – she peeled out of the school's parking lot. She made it a few blocks until she knew she had to pull over. Turning into a quiet street, she parked her car under a giant tree and finally stopped fighting the inevitable.

It wasn't just his words that hurt, it was the way he dug up her grief so viciously that made her flinch. It was a pain that was old and deep. A pain she had grown up with. _The loss of my mother._

At a very young age, Chloe had known grief intimately. She had known what it looked like, felt like, tasted like and she had known when it needed to take over and just consume. This was one of those moments. She quickly felt it – curling around her gut, breaking her heart in two – so familiar, almost like a visit from an old friend. It needed to run its course – Chloe knew – to do what it wanted and she was wise enough to let it happen. Her body shook as the harsh sobs broke free, tears now flowing unchecked, tracking down her face, soaking the collar of her shirt. Sadness seemed all-consuming in times like these, the feelings of loss were always painful but the worst part, the most agonizing part, were the 'what ifs' and the 'if onlys' and the 'I wishes'.

_What if my mother was still here?_

_If only that driver saw her in time to stop._

_I wish she could be with me. I just need one more day with her._

_Please._

Those thoughts could go on and on and drive a person crazy. And they never went away. Ever. What really surprised her, was the thought that this sadness would gradually lessen over the years – it did...kind of. It wasn't in her face all the time, but it was always in the background, patiently waiting to show its face again, not as often, but when it did, the hurt was still just as sharp, just as heavy and just as powerful.

Chloe wasn't sure how long she stayed there, in her car, under the tree. Maybe five minutes, maybe an hour, but when her sobs had finally subsided, she turned on her car and made her way home.

When she pulled into her parking spot, she felt utterly drained – drained and shaky. She glanced at herself in her rear-view mirror and groaned. _I look like hell swallowed me up and spit me back out. _Praying that Melinda was watching The Reeds kids again, she reluctantly made her way to the apartment. Thankfully, her dad wouldn't be home for a few hours, she didn't want to imagine dealing with him all puffy faced and upset. Opening the front door, she peeked her head in, listening for Melinda and heard nothing but silence. She let out a relieved breath as she scurried to her bedroom, dumping her stuff on her bed when she entered. She went directly into her bathroom, stripped off her clothes and jumped in the shower, eager to wash away any unwanted, lingering feelings.

However, Derek's words replayed relentlessly in her mind. She could still see his livid face – his eyes, so bright and sharp, she wouldn't be surprised if he could cut her with them. And for what? Being concerned? Giving a crap about him? Clearly, that was a huge mistake. He didn't deserve her sympathy or kindness at all. _Not one bit._

And as his words echoed over and over again in her ears, the shock and grief were gradually wearing off, quickly replaced by anger – pure, white-hot anger. She couldn't remember being this angry with anyone.

She berated herself as well. _How could I have been so stupid? _To open up the most vulnerable piece of herself to someone...who...who would hurt her like that. It felt like she exposed the most softest, squishiest part of herself and he just grabbed it, stomped on it and then chucked it across the room for good measure.

She couldn't stand him. Couldn't stand the thought of him. Couldn't stand the thought of sharing a project with him, much less a school with him.

There was only one thought that rang in Chloe's mind right now, as the hot water beat against her back...

_I hate Derek Souza._

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	8. Straightening Out

A/N: Hello fellow fanficers! I wanted to thank you guys again for taking time to read my story and a giant shout-out to those who reviewed. I got a ton of really nice and personal reviews from you folks and I just wanted to thank you guys for sharing some of your experiences with me. Means a lot! And, also, thank you for being patient with me. I'm not the fastest writer and I'm crazy busy (just like the rest of you). So, I really hope you enjoy!

A ginormous thank you to my betas, Tweety4be and Fanpire4000. These pretty ladies have helped me so much! Kisses to them.

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers.

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When Chloe woke up to her alarm the next day, she felt like she was hit by a truck, a very large truck, and she rolled over to smack her snooze button upside the head. She rubbed her hands over her face, trying to get the drowsy weight out of her skull, then scowled when she remembered Derek's horrible words from yesterday. She had a hard time falling asleep last night, and when she did, she slept awful, lots of tossing and turning, until she got so desperate she watched a couple old _X-Files _episodes on her computer, hoping it would distract her enough to get sleepy. It did. But she was harassed by bizarre dreams that she was Scully and Derek was Moulder and they were chasing little, green men.

_Ugh. I hate Derek._

Actually, in the light of day, she found she couldn't really hate Derek. She just really, **really** didn't like him. Yes, he may have deserved her undying hatred but she just couldn't manage it – too much effort and she wasn't really the type to hate someone undyingly anyway. Plus, the logical side of her brain understood that he was going through a very difficult time and he was just not handling it very well. He was upset and lashed out, and she just happened to be in the line of fire. But the emotional part of her was still hurting over what he said, still wounded. Of course, one benefit of really, **really** disliking Derek was she was no longer nervous or afraid of him. Just really, **really** angry.

_And so tired. _

For a minute, she debated on whether she should fake a sickness and stay bundled up in her bed and watch more _X-Files _until her eyes bled, but the thought of Derek thinking she was too chicken to come to school made her jump up, ready to start her day._ I will not let him win._

She decided she was going to put a little more effort into her appearance than usual, which wasn't saying much since she hardly put any effort on most days, but she wanted to look fresh and rested, like she didn't have a care in the world, like she looked forward to going to school today. _Maybe wear a little make-up, put on my favorite shirt. _When she saw the dark, puffy circles under her eyes, make-up was an absolute necessity. She opted for a quick shower and extra attention to her hair, braiding her long, blonde bangs out of her face. It made her look a little younger than she liked, but if it made Derek feel an ounce of guilt over making a sweet, young girl cry, then it was absolutely worth it.

Slipping her feet into some sparkly flats, she grabbed her coffee and was ready to go. She felt her phone buzz as she made her way to her the parking garage. It was a text from Mila.

**U ok?**

Last night, after her shower, Chloe had confided the horrific conversation to Mila, detailing every uncomfortable moment in Derek's company. Chloe had also told Rae, when her friend had called to chat. Both girls reacted differently, giving her exactly what she needed at the moment. Mila responded with all the soothing empathy Chloe could ever want, while Rae was righteously angry enough for a small country.

She texted Mila that she was fine before she made her way to school. As she walked through the main entrance, she was ecstatic that her stomach wasn't knotted with nerves by the thought of running into Derek for once. In fact, she was already mentally and physically preparing her face to give him the look of death just in case she did. _Ooo, and it's going to be a good face. I'm going to redefine the phrase __'evil-eye'._

Unfortunately, the day she was itching to plow right into him on purpose was the day he was nowhere to be found._ He's even annoying when he's not around._ Sighing with frustration, she stomped the rest of the way to her locker and almost steamrolled into Liz.

"Holy – " Chloe reached out to steady her friend. "Oh – Liz, I'm so sorry. I didn't even – "

"It's okay, Chloe," Liz reassured, looking at her friend carefully. "I was actually looking for you."

Chloe tilted her head questioningly. "Really?"

Liz shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Well, I... saw you leave school yesterday," she said softly. Seeing Chloe's shocked face, Liz continued quickly, "I was outside with my squad and it was only for a second – no one else saw you, but you looked upset. It was hard to tell in the distance though... but I'm right. You were upset, weren't you?"

Chloe sighed tiredly, then gestured for Liz to follow her to her locker. Automatically, Chloe opened her locker and said in a quiet voice, "Yes, I was pretty upset. I..." She took a deep breath and began again. "Derek and I met up yesterday for our project and... he..."

"And he wasn't very nice to you?" Liz guessed. "I'm sorry, Chloe. From what Tori's told me, he's been pretty much a nightmare to be around. What happa – "

"What are you two whispering about?"

Both of the girls jumped at the voice. Turning her head, Chloe saw a very suspicious Tori sauntering over towards them. _Great, here comes trouble personified – God – this girl should get a medal for having the world's worst timing. _She eyed Tori cautiously as she approached.

Tori sidled up to them, hands on her hips. "Let me guess," she said smugly. "It starts with a 'D' and ends with a 'K'. Am I right?"

_How the hell..._

Seeing the question on Chloe's face and the slightly guilty look on Liz's, "Why else would guys be so secretive? I mean, you're practically huddled inside a locker, whispering like crazy," she answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She shook her head and sized up the two of them with hawk-like precision, then noticing their pensive expressions, her eyes widened with concern.

"What?" she said slowly.

Liz hesitated, then looked to Chloe, who stood there staring down at her feet.

Tori's shoulders slumped as understanding dawned on her face before saying in a flat voice, "What did he do?"

"What? I..." Chloe faltered.

"Derek did something, didn't he? Said something?" she asked, but there was so question in her voice. "I saw him briefly last night and – shit – if I said he was in a foul mood – worse than normal – that would have been the biggest understatement ever."

In spite of herself, Chloe was curious, wondering if it was remorse that attested to his foul mood, but any curious feelings instantly dissolved when Chloe spotted a stony-faced Rae making a bee-line towards them. She groaned to herself. _Actually, I think Rae gets the medal for having the world's worst timing._

"Hey, Chloe. You okay?" she asked warily, as she planted herself firmly by Chloe's side.

Tori snorted, crossing her arms before leveling a glare at Rae. Liz stiffened beside her, readying herself for the inevitable showdown.

"What the hell do you think, _Rachelle_?" Tori said snidely. Her entire personality seemed to completely change before Chloe's eyes. Here was the Tori Chloe knew of, scary and sassy. "She's not bleeding, is she? Still got all her arms and legs, right?"

The air seemed to thicken with tension as the two girls squared off with each other. Passing students craned their necks to see what was about to unfold. Liz fidgeted uncomfortably, seemingly unsure of what to do and Chloe empathized with her – she felt the exact same way.

"Well, considering how evil you are, I wouldn't be surprised if she was bleeding or missing some limbs, _Victoria_," Rae spat back. Then added nastily, "Must run in the family."

For a moment, Tori's face seemed to pale, then just as quickly, it was bright with anger. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" she said dangerously.

"What it means? Why don't you tell me, Victoria?" Rae hissed. "Tell me where you and Derek get off on being so horrid to people. How you both think you can say whatever the hell you want to people and think it's okay."

"Rae..." Chloe whispered, not liking where this was going.

"You're going to lecture me about being horrid," Tori choked with disbelief. "I think you need to shove whatever bullshit you've been feeding yourself up your ass, Rae. Or better yet, buy yourself a dictionary and look up the word hypocrite. I think you'll be surprised to find your picture right next to the definition."

"Oh, please, Victoria," Rae said, waving her off. " What makes it alright for you to be such a bitch to me? Or for your _cousin_ to mock the death of Chloe's mother?"

"Rae!" Chloe was horrified. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen. It was too private, too painful, for just anyone to know. And even worse than that, she didn't want Derek to think she was some big baby, crying to anyone who'd listen to her.

Liz clasped her hand over mouth, her expression filled with sympathy. Next to her, Tori winced, her eyes pained for a moment.

"Mother?" Tori whispered, looking at Chloe with troubled eyes. "Chloe, Derek... he's –"

"He's what? An asshole?" Rae interrupted testily. "Tell us something we don't already know."

Tori rounded on her. "Was I talking to you? No, I wasn't! God, can you shut your ever-flapping mouth for just a Goddamn second?"

"No, I won't!" Rae retorted. "Clearly, Derek is feeling guilty about what happened at the game but this is more than that. I mean, what is his problem? What's so horrible about his life that he has to act like such a prick?"

"I strongly suggest you watch your mouth, Rae," Tori warned menacingly before turning her gaze towards Chloe. "It's not my place to tell anyone Derek's business, Chloe," Tori said simply and Chloe could see the regret in her eyes.

"Why the hell not?" Rae said with exasperation. "Oh, please. Are you turning noble on us all of a sudden, _Victoria_? God, what a joke!"

Tori's eyes narrowed into angry, little slits and her fists clenched tight at her sides. "It's called family loyalty, Rae. Something I _know_ you know nothing about," Tori seethed. "And don't you dare preach to me about being _horrible. _At least people know where I stand with them – they'll see the knife coming long before I stab them with it, instead of finding it lodged in their back when it's too late. That's _your_ style, _Rachelle,_" she sneered.

Chloe looked questioningly at Rae, but her friend was glaring at Tori so hard, Chloe wouldn't have been surprised if Tori had spontaneously combusted. Not that Tori noticed or cared. The look on her face spoke volumes and Chloe was sure that if Tori hadn't already made a voodoo doll in Rae's likeness, there would certainly be one in existence by the end of the day, with about a million pins sticking out of it.

"Um... okay, Tori," Liz said quietly, placing her hand on Tori's arm. "I think we should get to class before we're late. C'mon." Throwing one last scowl in Rae's direction, Tori turned with a swish of her hips that was all attitude, and stalked down the hallway with her best friend.

Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Chloe gazed at Rae in confusion. She should have been pleased that Rae had rushed to her side, thinking she was defending her from Tori, but Chloe felt betrayed instead. Rae had flippantly divulged something that was between the two of them, something private. _To someone she absolutely despises._ _And what was all that talk about family loyalty and back stabbing?_

Opening her mouth to ask Rae what was going on, Rae said suddenly, "I gotta go. Can't be late to Spanish." Then she was gone in an instant, leaving Chloe bewildered about her already crazy day.

…...

Much to her disappointment, Chloe's earlier bravado didn't last very long. She was tired and cranky. And after the confrontation between Rae and Tori, she was left with a growing concern over Rae. Clearly, there was history there. But why hadn't Rae ever mentioned it before? The most obvious answer didn't bode well._ Rae didn't want to talk about it because she must have done something wrong. _

Chloe opted to have lunch with Mila and her friends instead, especially since they were going to their cafe and nothing sounded better to Chloe than getting out of the school atmosphere for awhile. By the time History rolled around, Chloe was dragging her feet to her classroom. She really didn't want to face Derek, she didn't want to remember the way his eyes flashed when he hurt her with his words. But more than anything, she just wanted him out of her head. For almost two weeks, he seemed to take up a large space in her mind and had her emotions running wild – and most of those emotions were negative.

_It needs to stop._

Steeling herself, she entered her classroom and quickly scanned the space. He wasn't there yet. She hurriedly made her way to her seat and waited. The familiar prickle of nervousness reared it's head, a feeling she had now solely associated with Derek, but she wasn't going to let it control her. Today, she wasn't going to ignore him. Today, she was going to look him in the eye and pour every resentful feeling in that look. But...he didn't show up. Chloe felt the uneasy combination of being both relieved and disappointed. _But I practiced my 'evil-eye' in the mirror last night. _But more than that, she was frustratingly curious.

_Why isn't he here?_

_Does he feel guilty?_

Chloe certainly hoped so, but remembering his uncaring personality, she was sure it had nothing to do with her.

_Ugh. Just stop, Chloe. Stop it._ _We are done thinking about him._

…...

Chloe did stop thinking about Derek, at least over most of the weekend. It helped that she went to Mila's for a sleepover on Saturday and proceeded to watch bad horror movies, giggling over the awful special effects and buckets of blood being thrown around. Jen and Ashley joined them too, with Jen insisting on giving the girls homemade facials that ended up being disgusting and hilarious.

In fact, Chloe barely thought about Derek at all when she went to school Monday morning. Walking with Mila between her second and third period classes, both girls were giggling hysterically as Mila described what Chloe looked like after Jen applied her avocado-oatmeal mask to her face.

"And – and it looked like... like," Mila gasped between giggles, "like someone puked on your face!"

"God, it – it was so freaking gross," Chloe squeaked through her laughter, clutching her side. "Ow, ow, I think I pulled something from laughing too hard."

That only made the girls laugh harder. Chloe seriously thought she was going to get a charlie-horse in her face, while Mila was laughing so hard now, she sounded like a high-pitched hyena. Suddenly, Chloe felt Mila nudge her urgently. Still grinning, Chloe wiped her eyes and looked over at her friend who had become deadly serious.

"What?" Chloe whispered worriedly. "Are you okay?" She turned to look where Mila was staring. "What is – "

Her voice croaked as her eyes rested on Derek. He was leaning against the wall of the hallway, arms crossed – looking like the very definition of intimidation. He was... watching them. A mask of disinterest on his face, but his gaze seemed to intensify when Chloe locked eyes with him. She swallowed anxiously before reminding herself that she was still furious with him. Remembering her well-rehearsed reaction she prepared for when she saw him, she threw him the dirtiest glare she could muster before grabbing Mila's arm, spinning them in the opposite direction.

"You okay?" Mila asked in a concerned voice. They were walking fast, since they had to take the long way to their classes.

"I think so," Chloe nodded, smiling at Mila. "Yeah, I _am_ okay."

Actually, she was better than okay. She felt empowered, like she had stood up for herself even though she didn't utter a word to him. That's how it was going to be with them from now on – glares and silence._ He's never going to hurt me again. _Feeling resolute and strong, she needed to think of how they could complete their project without ever having to spend one second in each others company. _We'll just delegate who does what and we won't ever have to talk to each other again. It's brilliant! _She decided that after school on Thursday, she would march into their little study room and tell him how it is.

She was still feeling pretty good as she made her way to the library for her study period later that day. Of course, she waited until lunch was well over. _Just in case... _Not wanting to run into Derek – she wasn't feeling that cocky. Placing her things on her favorite table, she barely had time to settle down when a large shadow cast over her. Expecting to see a friendly face, she smiled up at the person and froze when her eyes met...

_Derek._

For a long second she just sat there, staring up at him, not sure if this was one of her weird dreams she was experiencing. _Or nightmares._ She blinked a couple times as her brain caught up with the situation, then she blushed when she realized she was gawking at him like an idiot. She tore her eyes away and cleared her suddenly very dry throat.

"Can I help you?" she said in a cool voice.

"Yeah," Derek rumbled slowly and Chloe's heart had inexplicably leapt a little. "Just making sure we're still meeting on Thursday."

"W-What?" she said dumbly.

"I'm making sure we're still on for Thursday," he repeated and Chloe could hear the slight twinge of irritation in his voice.

"Are you serious?" she asked incredulously, craning her neck to glare at him. "After how you treated me, you think I'll spend time with you voluntarily? You're out of your freaking mind."

"Am I?" He peered down at her, his usual aloof expression firmly in place. "May I remind you that our project's half of our grade."

"Yes, I'm aware of –"

"And I'm not letting my grade suffer because you have a problem with me," he reasoned coldly.

"Well, that makes the two of us," Chloe said through gritted teeth. " But we don't need to meet up once a week to complete our project. We can do our parts separately and our grade will be just fine."

"Have it all figured out, do you?" he said sarcastically. "Problem is, that's not going to work for me."

"Well, I don't really care if that works for you or not!" she snapped. Her voice ringing a little louder than she had intended, earning a stern look from the librarian. "All I know is," she said in a quieter voice, "I'm not spending anymore time in your company than I have to. Okay?"

"No, that's not oka –"

"I mean, it's blaringly obvious that you don't like me," she interrupted, "and I sure as hell don't like you, so it's really a win-win solution."

"And how will I know you're actually doing your part of the work if I'm not seeing your results on a weekly basis?" he stated logically and Chloe cursed herself for not having thought out her plan more thoroughly. She hesitated a moment, and he obviously noticed as he added, "What? Am I supposed to keep my fingers crossed when we present our project to Mr. Rosen? Hope that you did your work right, if at all?"

"Okay, we can email each other our progress." When he looked at her skeptically, she continued, "We can scan our notes and any pictures that we have of our models and, uh, such. And I'll send you my edited film montage."

"That sounds like a lot more work than necessary," he argued. "And I personally don't want to do any more work than I have to."

"Well, I don't care," she stated stubbornly. "We'll just have to find some way to make it happen."

"Are you always like this?" he said, annoyance now breaking through his neutral mask.

"Like what?" she asked warily.

"Irrational," he stated bluntly.

Chloe squeaked in outrage.

_Oh. No. He. Didn't._

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a little irrational right now. That usually happens when I have to deal with insensitive jerks." She felt her face grow hot as her temper flared.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"I said insensitive jerks," she replied, drawing out the words like he was hard of hearing. "Or does your giant brain not remember what you said to me last Thursday." His face tightened for a moment before smoothing into bland disinterest again. "Well, I'll help you out, Derek," she said sarcastically. "You said, and I quote, 'I don't need your pathetic, little sob story involving you and your mother and her horrible accident.'"

Just saying those words aloud brought up the painful feelings again. "I know you're going through a hard time, Derek, but I did not deserve that at all. In fact, I was just trying to hel – " Chloe stopped herself before she could finish. She refused to put anymore energy into this...this – whatever this was – any longer. She knew she would just end up feeling hurt and unsatisfied again. "Never mind," she muttered.

Derek was silent, then he seemed to hesitate, and for one wild moment, Chloe thought he might apologize, before he added doggedly, "We still need to meet up once a week."

_Un-freaking-believable. He's not even going to give me a half-ass apology. _

"I'm not doing it, Derek," she said firmly, crossing her arms. "You can't make me."

"Oh, yes I can, Chloe," he said softly.

_What? How?_

Instantly, Chloe's heart started pounding like crazy. "No, you can't," she said, wincing as she heard the crack in her voice. "You can't!" She looked at him, trying to see if he was bluffing but Derek had a superb poker face. And he just stood there, silently staring at her, clearly trying to intimidate her – which to her growing frustration, was working.

"How are you going to make me, Derek?" she asked, squirming uncomfortably under his gaze. "What? Are you going to drag me to our study room and tie me to a chair, handcuff me to the table?"

His eyes widened a fraction but he quickly schooled his features again.

"No, I'll tell Mr. Rosen you're not pulling your weight. That you're slacking," he said smugly.

Chloe gaped up at him. "What!" she cried, earning another warning glare from the librarian. "Y-You're going to tell on me?" she whispered fiercely. "What are you, like, five years old?"

He actually smiled at that, his eyes lighting up with laughter – which really pissed Chloe off.

"Maybe," he said smirking. "But don't think I won't do it, Chloe." He gave her a hard look. "You need to get over it. What happened last week. It's in the past."

She couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe his nerve. Couldn't believe his... his... condescending tone, like she was making a big deal out of nothing.

_First, he says the cruelest thing anyone has ever said to me. Next, he threatens me by lying to our teacher. Then, he tells me to get over it!_

_OH, HELL NO!_

She was shaking with anger, but she was determined to win this round with him. She inhaled deeply and composed herself. Grabbing her things from the table she stood up to face him, leveling the iciest glare she could muster.

"Derek Souza," she said in a calm and quiet voice. "You can go fuck yourself."

Then, she swung around, without a backwards glance, and strolled out of the library.

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	9. Turning A Corner

A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks again for the continued interest in my story and kisses on the cheeks, French style, for those who reviewed. I must say this writing business is really hard. I have the basic plot down, with little side plots thrown in there as well, but keeping everything organized and trying to keep the tension up is pretty difficult. At least for me it is...I'm really hoping I can keep this story tight and keep everyone's interest too. We'll see how I do. I've had a few people ask me about the rating of this story (why it's rated M) and I'm honestly on the fence about having any sexy lemons in it. Right now, the story feels very innocent and I'm not sure if it's too big of a leap for Chloe and Derek to start getting "busy" or something like that anyway. Of course, I have those lemons planned out to the nth degree (hey, it's me we're talking about, right?) and I feel like there should be more M-rated Chlerek to balance out the other ratings, but I'm not sure if it's really necessary or good for this story. So, to help me out with the decision making process I have created a little poll on my profile - just to get a sense of what readers are at with that issue. The poll is anonymous, so if you'd like to have me specifically know your opinion, feel free to PM me. Now, if the results tell me that most of you wants this to be rated T, but as I continue to develop the story with the other plot lines and it just seems better to stay at an M-rating than I'll probably will leave it that way. It's just hard for me to judge my story objectively is all. Does that make sense? Anyways, any input will help so thank you!

Many thanks to my freaking awesomely awesome betas: Tweety4be and Fanpire4000. I would be in serious trouble without these pretty gals!

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers.

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Chloe was feeling good. Really good. Like astronomically good. She had just told Derek Souza to go fuck himself. In fact, she wanted to high-five herself. Actually, she had tried to high-five herself but she just looked like she was awkwardly clapping. But still, she had stood up to the meanest guy in the universe and came out victorious.

_Yeah! In your face, Derek!_

She was flying high from her exhilarating moment of ballsiness. _Is that even a word? Oh, who cares. I stood up to him. Spoke my truth and nothing's going to ruin it for me._

And nothing was going to ruin it for her, except that barely perceptible niggling of guilt in the back of her mind. She quickly shoved it away as she walked to her favorite bench next to a couple of large windows. But as she sat down and arranged her things around her, the guilt perked back up, yanking her exhilarating high away and whispering incessantly in her ear.

_Oh, Chloe, don't you even care that he's going through a traumatic time right now?_

_A young man is paralyzed and poor Derek feels like it's all his fault._

Yes...the guilt was officially here. _But that's not fair, _she argued, _he was awful to me when I was just trying to be nice. What he said about my mother...her accident. _The anger flared back up, much to Chloe's relief but her conscious was, as usual, determined to be heard.

_How would you feel if it was you, you who had hurt someone – broken someone?_

She groaned and covered her face with her hands. _This is why I don't do bitchiness. I feel awful five minutes later. _She tried to recover all her righteous resentment, but it just seemed petty compared to the reality Derek was facing. That didn't mean Chloe didn't have a right to be hurt and angry with his behavior, or that she wanted to work on their project together, because she didn't. But she should have been the bigger person, she realized.

_Yes, he hurt me, but he's hurting too._

"Dangit," she whispered, running her hands through her hair. Now, she just felt bad. _Great. When did things get so complicated? Ugh...And I have to see him in History._

She thought about walking directly to her car and calling it a day, but she was going to have to face him all week anyway. Sighing to herself, she walked outside, thinking a little fresh air might help. It didn't. She ended up coming back inside and roaming the halls until it was time to go to History. When she entered the classroom, she was the first one there. She fidgeted as each student trickled in, becoming more and more conflicted, her stomach so jumbled she felt slightly nauseous.

Finally, Derek entered, his large size dominating the space around him. She swallowed hard. She expected him to ignore her like he usually did but when his gaze swung in her direction she jumped a little. His eyebrows rose in an expression that could have been anything – anger, humor, sadness – but she just didn't know him well enough to decipher his quirks. Whatever it was though, it had a hot blush spreading across her cheeks and her heart beating double-time. When he sat at his desk, the hollow look had crept back into his eyes and the sight made Chloe feel even more guilty.

If she could have banged her head repeatedly against her desk, screaming "Why, why, why?" without anyone thinking she was crazy, she probably would have, but she tried to act normal instead. She was beyond tired of this ridiculous dynamic between her and Derek. It was becoming tedious at this point. She was either angry or anxious or just plain confused around him and it was wearing her down. But she honestly didn't know what to do, she didn't see any new options so she returned to their default dynamic, which was to ignore him. Thankfully, he seemed to revert back to ignoring her as well and Chloe only hoped he'd given up on the idea of working on their project together.

…...

The next few days passed by normally. Chloe hung out with Rae during lunch a couple of times. She had brought up the argument Rae had with Tori and Rae insisted there was no history there, and Chloe didn't have much of a choice but to let it go, although she was sure something was there between those two. However, if Rae wanted to keep it to herself, that was her right, but Chloe couldn't help feeling a little wary of her friend. Royce continued to leer at her every once in awhile, he was careful to do it when no one was looking, especially Amber. In fact, he was so sneaky, Mila had only caught him ogling Chloe once, even though Mila had her eyes glued to him. But he never approached Chloe, or talked to her in any capacity so it was easy for Chloe to avoid him.

Now, it was Thursday and Chloe was sitting in her History class, listening halfheartedly to Mr. Rosen. She hazarded a few glances towards Derek, who had his head down, scribbling notes. To her relief, he never approached her about meeting up again, but to her growing concern, he continued to look withdrawn and listless. _Why do I even care? _She knew she shouldn't, but she did. There was something...familiar about him, something kindred. The look behind his eyes, she recognized it – he had known loss – a sadness. _It was heartbreak_. _Not the romantic kind...but something else._

Chloe was so lost in her thoughts, she'd hardly been aware of class ending until the other students jostled around her. Bending down, Chloe shoved her notes and books into her bag, then noticed a large pair of sneakers planted in front of her bag. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who was standing next to her. Taking a deep breath, she peered up into Derek's face. He was impassive as usual.

"I'll see you after school," he said simply, then without waiting for a reply, turned and sauntered out of the classroom.

Chloe huffed to herself. "Unbelievable," she muttered. _Just when I start feeling some sympathy for him, he swoops down and completely ruins it. Well, he's in for a rude awakening when I stand him up._

Imagining Derek waiting in their study room, bored, then annoyed, then seriously pissed off – put a very nice smile on Chloe's face as she made her way towards the theater. She was greeted by the sight of Mila, perched against the wall next to their class.

"What are you smiling about?" Mila asked. "You look like you're enjoying a good inside joke."

"Oh, I am," Chloe answered, smiling wider as she detailed her brief encounter with Derek.

"Wow, he's just not giving up, is he?" Mila said, eyes wide with surprise. "And you think if you don't show up he'll take the hint, leave you alone? I don't know, Chloe. He seems like the stubborn type to me."

"Well, I'm not going to let him bully me into doing what he wants me to do," Chloe replied and Mila nodded in agreement.

"No argument there," Mila said, then added with a smirk, "I wish we could see his face when he realizes you're not going to show up. I bet it'll be priceless."

That had the girls giggling as they entered the theater and sat down. Chloe glanced around and noticed Amber looking very cozy on Royce's lap. _Gross. _Nudging Mila, Chloe gestured to them and judging Mila's wrinkled-nose expression, she was thinking the same thing.

"What does she see in him?" Chloe whispered. Mila shook her head, looking equally perplexed.

"What can I say? Amber's never been the picky type," Mila replied as she rifled through her bag. With a annoyed sigh, she pulled out a yellow slip. "I almost forgot...I'm leaving early today," she frowned, waving the slip. "Stupid dentist appointment."

Chloe gave her friend a sympathetic smile before Mrs. O'Donnell started class. As usual, Chloe's teacher had a giant list of things she wanted done. In fact, Mrs. O'Donnell had her so busy, she was still putting away the projectors in the equipment room, a few minutes after the bell rang. Usually, Mila helped her but since she left early, Chloe ended up doing it by herself.

Placing the last of the projectors carefully away in the small room, she straightened out some of the lighting and props on the shelf, knowing how much Mrs. O'Donnell liked this room organized. With her back to the door, she continued organizing until she sensed she was being watched. She swung around and started when she noticed Royce leaning against the door frame.

"Hey," he said smiling. "You need any help?"

Chloe's heart picked up a beat. His body language was casual, but Chloe was uncomfortably aware that he was blocking the only exit.

"No thanks," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Pretty much done here."

"You sure?" He stepped further into the room and Chloe felt her uneasiness skyrocket.

"Positive, thanks though," she said lightly. She side-stepped him. "I should lock up. Mrs. O'Donnell is really adamant about this room being locked at all times." She jiggled her keys. "Because of all the expensive stuff in here."

Moving cautiously around him, she exited, waiting for him to exit the room as well so she could lock up behind them. She glanced around the theater and was alarmed to see that she and Royce were the only two people left from class. Slowly, he meandered out of the room, his eyes riveted on her. _And the look in his eyes._ She had to force herself to stay calm. Quickly, she locked the door and jumped when she turned to see how close he was standing, his exhales ruffling the hair against her cheek.

"Um, thanks again for offering to help," she said, her words coming out in a rush. She squeezed past him and walked swiftly towards the stage where her things were. Grabbing her bag, she could see him in the corner of her eye, angling himself between her and the exit, and she swore under her breath. This was not good.

"Well, I really need to get going," she said, clutching her bag like it was a lifeline.

"Got a hot date?" he said quietly, moving steadily closer.

"Um, no, I'm meeting up with my history partner," she lied. "So, aren't you and Amber hanging out today?" She hoped that would give him some pause but he simply shrugged it off.

"Nah, she's a fun girl and all but..." He stared hard at Chloe, taking every one of her features in – starting from her head and gradually making his way down to her feet, and Chloe could barely contain a repulsive shiver.

"But," he continued in a smooth voice, "I like girls like you, Chloe." He gave her another appraising look. "I bet the boys here don't even know what's under their noses, do they? They all go for the flashier girls, the more obvious girls." He snorted disdainfully, then the sickly smile was back. "And right here, with me, is the prettiest girl of all."

No one had ever complimented her like that before, and if it was anyone else, she may have blushed and been flattered, but she felt the exact opposite. She felt dirty with him looking at her like that. He took another step towards her and Chloe automatically stepped back before she could stop herself.

"So pretty," he breathed, stepping closer again, smiling when Chloe backed up. "Like a perfect, little porcelain doll." He took another step, then another, and she shuffled away from him until her back hit the wall of the stage, the black curtains of the wings billowing around them. Her heart felt like it was pounding in her throat and a chill coursed through her arms and legs. She knew she needed to be ready, ready to run or fight or anything, but looking at his cold eyes, her body seemed stiff and heavy with panic. He inched closer, not touching but almost and Chloe could feel the heat from his body as he stood in front of her.

"Pretty, blonde hair," he continued, reaching out to leisurely tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then caressing the curve of her cheek with his fingertips. "Pretty water-blue eyes." His gaze roamed lazily over her face and Chloe's breathing kicked up a notch.

"P-Please," she stammered, hating how weak her voice sounded. "I really need –"

He shushed her gently. "And the prettiest, bow-shaped lips I have ever seen." His thumb lightly traced her bottom lip, staring at her with his hungry, cold eyes. "These lips...these pretty, innocent lips. They were made to do very bad thin – "

"Chloe?"

Chloe practically jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice say her name. Then she nearly sagged with relief, her knees instantly weak. _We're not alone._ It was not just any voice either. She'd recognize that deep, familiar rumble anywhere. Royce spun on his heels, casting his gaze across the other side of the stage, where the voice had come from. Chloe squinted, she couldn't see anything, just the darkness from the wings.

Then Derek stepped out of the shadows, looking huge and intimidating.

"Are you okay, Chloe?" he asked quietly, but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were locked onto Royce. If she had thought he looked threatening before, that was nothing compared to the look he leveled at Royce. Chloe only hugged her bag closer in response, shrinking away from Royce even further.

"Come over here," Derek said gently, his hand extended invitingly towards her. His eyes flickered to hers, the usual indifferent expression gone, replaced with concern. _Over me? _Hesitantly, she slid away from Royce, still very wary of him. He seemed so alien and dangerous to her, like a snake ready to strike, and she instinctively avoided making any sudden movements.

"I think our pretty, little girl here can make up her own mind," Royce said, a warning ringing sharp around his words. She had to hand it to Royce, the guy was confident – most boys would've pissed their pants from the look on Derek's face.

"What do you want to do, Chloe?" Derek asked, and even though his tone was still gentle, his jaw tightened, shoulders tensing. His arm reached out further, coaxing her over to him.

The panic buzzing in Chloe's head dissipated slightly, and she was able to jump start her brain into action. She scuttled over to Derek's outstretched hand and he gently pulled her behind him, shielding her from Royce.

"Chloe, you naughty girl," Royce tsked. "You didn't mention any boyfriend."

Chloe stayed silent. If Royce thought she had a giant, scary boyfriend – so be it, she certainly wasn't going to correct him.

"And a very protective one, at that," he said, eyes narrowing at Derek. "Can't say I blame him. If you were mine, I wouldn't let you out of my sight. Wouldn't know what kind of _trouble_ you'd get into."

"Well, she's not _yours,_" Derek growled, fists clenched tight. "And I suggest you forget she exists." They both glared at each other for a long moment, until Derek warned again, "She doesn't exist. Got it?" Chloe couldn't see the expression on Derek's face but it must have been effective – Royce faltered, his cocky mask slipping a little.

"C'mon, Chloe," Derek whispered, throwing one last scowl at Royce, before resting his large hand protectively over her shoulder and leading her out of the theater.

She took a deep, shaky breath when they reached the hallway and she felt Derek squeeze her shoulder reassuringly before he dropped his hand. They continued walking but Chloe was barely aware of where they were heading.

"You alright?" he asked softly.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. I think so," she murmured, her head still felt fuzzy, like her mind was trying to process what had just happened a few moments ago.

"You sure?" he said. Chloe glanced up at him, the worried crinkle was still around his eyes. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Yeah," she nodded, she was still clinging her bag to her chest. "That was just..."

"Creepy," he offered, then shook his head. "There's something not...right about that guy. Did he – did he hurt you? In any way?"

"No, he just touched my hair," she said quietly, shuddering. "And my face."

Derek's mouth tightened into a thin line. "You need to stay away from him. Promise me you'll do that." He took a deep breath. "Maybe you should, I don't know, talk to your teacher about him. Maybe the school counselor."

She shook her head. "And tell them what? That he told me I was pretty and touched my hair. Royce did just enough to make me nervous but not enough to get him into any trouble." She loosened the death grip on her bag. "No, I just need to make sure I stay very far away from him, like you said."

"Well, that's not all, Chloe. You need to make sure you're never alone with him again. Make sure a friend waits for you when your class ends."

Chloe realized it was not a coincidence that Royce had chosen the day to approach her when Mila wasn't around.

"Yeah, I'll make sure my friend Mila stays with me."

"And where was she today?" Derek asked, and Chloe heard the accusation in his voice.

"She left early for a dentist appointment," Chloe said.

Derek snorted like that was no real excuse. "Give me your phone," he ordered.

Chloe was too bewildered to ask him why as she pulled her phone out from her bag.

"If she can't wait for you for whatever reason," he said, fiddling with her phone. "Text me and I will." He handed back her phone. "I programmed my number in there."

Chloe just gaped at him. _What the hell..._

"Uh, thanks," she mumbled, too stunned to really say anything else. Then wondering how he just happened to show up, she peered up at him questioningly. "How did you know I had drama?"

"You mentioned it was your last class to Simon. When we ran into you in the library last week." Chloe's jaw just about hit the floor. _But he...he wasn't even paying attention when Simon and I were talking._

"So, today, you waited for me...in the library?" she asked confused. "Then came to my class when I didn't show up?"

"No, I waited for you outside your class," he said matter-of-factly. "And when you didn't come out, I went looking for you."

_Wait. What?_

"Y-You waited for me after class," Chloe stuttered, trying and failing to control her gaping. "To what? Harass me into going to the library? Until I gave in?"

Derek shrugged. "Something like that." Then he noticed Chloe's incredulous face. "You thought I was going to give up?" His lips twitched in one corner, like he was fighting not to smile. _Or smirk. _"You don't know me very well, Chloe."

She wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or amused. Really, it was a combination of both, but the most pervasive emotion she was feeling was gratitude – for showing up when he did. They stopped walking and she noticed they were standing just outside of the library doors.

"And you're still not giving up," she sighed, gesturing towards the entrance. "Fine," she grumbled. "Lead the way." When they started for the doors, she halted and turned to him. "But if you ever say anything hurtful like what you said last week – I swear – I will never talk to you again."

He looked at her for a second, before walking towards the door and opening it for her "Okay," he said simply.

She gave him a slight nod, then walked in the library. When she entered the study room, with Derek trailing behind her, she sat down immediately, pulling her things out of her bag, just to give her hands something to do. She fidgeted anyway, the atmosphere was awkward to say the least. It didn't help that her nerves were just calming down from her experience with Royce.

_Royce._

Just thinking about him again made Chloe's stomach twist. _If Derek didn't show up when he did..._She glanced over at him, realizing she hadn't even thanked him yet, not just for interrupting Royce but also his consideration over her safety. His words echoed in her ears. "If she can't wait for you for whatever reason, text me and I will." If Chloe hadn't heard those words herself, she would've never believed he said them. She fidgeted again, watching him sort through his notes before sitting down.

"Um, Derek?" she said hesitantly, feeling self-conscious. When he raised his head to look at her, she continued, "I didn't thank you yet for, you know, showing up at the theater when you did."

"It's fine," he mumbled, looking a little self-conscious as well.

"Well, I'm glad you did," she replied, "you know, show up when you did." She gave him a small smile. "Really glad." He nodded slowly, his eyes seemingly a bit more alive than they had been in the last couple of weeks. When she felt the hot blush threaten to overtake her cheeks, she hurriedly added, "So, uh, how did you know I was in trouble? Did you happen to hear Royce or something?"

A scowl appeared on his features as he shook his head. "No, I didn't think anything was up when I went in looking for you. I figured there would be more people around but..." His scowled deepened. "I heard voices and that's where I headed. When I first saw you guys, he was standing pretty close and I...thought he might be your boyfriend, but when I got a little closer" he paused, looking troubled and angry, "and I heard what he was saying, that he was touching you. The look on your face – I just wish I got there sooner."

"Oh," Chloe murmured, shivering at the memory.

"If you ever find yourself alone with him again—"

"That won't happen, Derek," she reassured.

He shook his head, "No, listen," he said, eyes boring into hers. "_If_ it ever happens, okay, and he approaches you. Don't even wait—" He rolled his hand into a tight fist. "—I want you to punch him in the throat, hard." Leaning his head back, he placed his fist right on his adam's apple. "Right here, okay. Promise that you'll do that, first thing, as soon as he's close enough."

Eyes widening, Chloe nodded her head, "Okay. I-In the throat," she stammered.

"As hard as you can," he said firmly. When he seemed satisfied with her understanding, he added, "Then run like hell."

She nodded again, then gulped what seemed like the biggest lump on the planet.

_Run like hell._

She only hoped she would never be in a situation that had her doing just that but she was grateful for it – it was better than nothing. "Thank you," she murmured, before turning to her books and notes to begin their study time.

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	10. Strawberries

A/N: Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure I gained 5 pounds in two days. Awesome! Anyway, thank you again for taking time to read my story and a bear hug to those who reviewed. I also wanted to thank you guys for your input about the M-rating versus a T-rating. As many of you suggested, I think I'm going to keep the rating as is and keep writing, then judging from the tone of this story, I'll decide what feels right. As of right now, I'm not leaning in any direction in terms of lemony goodness, so it'll be a total surprise for me and everyone else. Again, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your thoughts. And without further adieu, I present chapter 10! I hope you enjoy!

A extravagant kiss (with a tiny bit of tongue XP) to my beautiful betas: Fanpire4000 (who if you haven't read her stories, I strongly encourage you to do so. She's awesome!) and to Tweety4be (who's a reading genius)!

Disclaimer: Don't own...

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To say Chloe was shocked that her study time with Derek had passed without a hint of drama was pretty much a ginormous understatement. No fights, minimal stuttering and, thankfully, no mention of beavers – it was almost... nice. Almost. And boring. All they did was study quietly for over an hour before Chloe drove home, slightly mystified.

Derek had shown her a different side of him. A... sweet side. _No, sweet is too strong of a word. _But a side that was considerate and protective, which shocked her. And the difference from her feelings when school started to when it ended was almost black and white.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail, she surveyed herself in her mirror as her mind replayed moments from their conversations yesterday. She was a little curious, to say the least, to see how they were going to interact today, if they would still be distant – only talking when they met up for their project, or maybe they would chat a bit, if they saw each other in the halls or in their class.

However, the thought of facing Royce again had her cringing. She still couldn't quite fathom the scary moment she had with him. The second Chloe stepped through her front door yesterday, she had called Mila and told her everything. Her friend's mouth was, unfortunately, numb from her trip to the dentist and had a hard time enunciating her words, but her outrage was loud and clear. Mila had offered to mace the bastard and then kick him in the nuts, but Chloe had convinced her that being cautious was really their best option. Detailing Derek's lucky arrival, Mila had gasped and slurred her appreciation for the big guy. Of course, Mila declared she wasn't the least bit surprised by his heroic behavior.

"He is Simon's brother, after all," Mila had stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It did take her a few tries of repeating herself for Chloe to understand. The gist of the conversation was simple: Mila would never leave Chloe's side for a millisecond – before, during, and after their drama class.

Feeling like she was ready as she ever was to face the world, Chloe checked her reflection one last time before leaving for school.

…...

As she meandered through her day, she was curious to note how different today was from yesterday. Yesterday, had seemed like such a drama-filled roller coaster. In fact, the last two weeks had been pretty intense. _But today..._Today was what boring days were made of, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Classes dragged on like a zombie with no legs, lunch was uneventful, filled with ordinary chatter and there were no sightings of Derek – or, thankfully, Royce. It was truly a bland day. And Chloe couldn't have been more relieved.

Of course, it was only her study period and Chloe knew from experience – boring days could change on a dime, especially when her last two classes held the most potential for any kind of drama. When it was time to head over to History, Chloe packed up her things and exited the library with a little trepidation. Preparing herself to face the possibility of Derek ignoring her, she realized how disappointed she would be if he actually did. Something happened yesterday. Something that only occurred when someone steps in to help you, to protect you, and it would be weird if they just acted like it was nothing.

As Chloe approached the classroom door, she caught the large, unmistakable silhouette in her peripherals down the hallway. Her heart jumped a little and for a split second she debated on whether she should race through the door and pretend she hadn't noticed him. _But that would be stupid... and cowardly. _Readying herself to meet cold, green eyes, she turned towards him with a stiff smile she was sure looked as awkward as it felt and waved. His gaze rested on her for a moment, before he nodded once and looked away. If it was anyone else who greeted her that way, she would've thought them rude. But in the universe of Derek, it was as friendly as he got and it made her belly bubble with happiness, filling her with a feeling of optimism. _Maybe we could be friends someday... maybe._ By the time class was over, Chloe had managed to cop a few glimpses of Derek. He looked like he normally did – he was expressionless as usual, but today he didn't have that awful dullness in his eyes and she only hoped that it would stay that way. She rose from her seat when the bell rang and and threw him a small wave of goodbye with her still-awkward smile. He gave her the same single nod that had her insides jumping as she scurried out of the classroom.

When Chloe got closer to the theater, those happy, little feelings in her belly disappeared, replaced by a nauseous sensation instead. _Royce. _He was definitely the last person on earth she wanted to see in the theater again. _Or planet, really. _But she wouldn't be alone, Mila was going to be there and she had hoped Derek and his warning were scary enough to deter Royce into any future contact. As Chloe neared the entrance, she spotted a very determined looking Mila standing next to the doors. Chloe smiled when she saw Mila had one hand in her bag, as if resting there, and Chloe was sure her dark-haired friend had her hand gripped tight around the can of mace she promised to bring.

"Hi, Mila." Chloe's feelings of dread had lessened dramatically standing next to a feisty Mila.

"Hey," Mila said, wrapping her free arm around Chloe in a protective, if a bit aggressive, hug. Then she whispered, "If that bastard tries anything, I swear on everything holy, I will mace him in the face _and_ in the crotch."

Chloe stifled a giggle. "Ouch. I bet that wouldn't feel very good."

"No, I'm pretty sure it would hurt _bad_," Mila said, utterly serious. "Boy parts are very sensitive. I suspect there would be some pretty fierce burning down there."

"Ew, I'd rather not think about his boy parts, Mila."

"Oh, right, sorry," Mila mumbled, scrunching her nose and smiling a little. She gestured to the entrance. "Shall we?"

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Chloe nodded and followed Mila into the theater and they quickly situated themselves in the back. Apprehension built up her between shoulder blades and she wanted to search around the space with her gaze, but the thought of meeting his eyes creeped her out enough that she instead fixed her eyes on the stage.

She felt Mila nudge her. "He's over there. With Amber," Mila whispered, then groaned in disgust. "And they're all over each other."

Chloe looked over and saw exactly what Mila briefly described. Amber and Royce were indeed all over each other. She was sure sucking face that hard was illegal in some of the more conservative countries in the world. "God, I might seriously puke."

"Right?" Mila agreed. Class began shortly after, with Mrs. O'Donnell keeping everyone busy as usual, but that didn't prevent Mila from checking up on Chloe every five minutes and repeatedly glaring in Royce's direction, not that he noticed. He was completely focused on his tasks and if he wasn't, he was fixated on Amber. Not once did he look Chloe's way and she felt herself relax a little, but she knew better than to let her guard when it came to him.

The moment class ended, Mila had glued herself to Chloe's side and at a safe distance, they warily watched Royce and Amber exit the theater. They exited themselves while Mila muttered to herself about mace and boy's crotches, before they both got the shock of the day.

Leaning against the wall, outside of their class, was Derek, looking large and scarier than usual. He was looking down the hallway, towards the direction Royce had just gone. Hesitantly, she walked over to him, with Mila following her closely.

"Derek?" His gaze swung over to her and he gave her his, now, signature nod. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Just making sure that psychopath-in-training knew I was serious about him staying away from you," he growled. "Thought a visual reminder would help him."

"Did he notice—"

"Oh, he noticed me," he said, seemingly satisfied.

"Uh, thank you," Chloe replied, feeling flustered and grateful. Then, noticing a wide-eyed Mila standing next to her, she quickly said, "Have you met my friend, Mila?"

Derek grunted a... greeting? Chloe wasn't really sure, but Mila had responded with a friendly, "Nice to meet you."

"And I wanted to talk to you about a model I built for our project," he added, in his usual, all-business manner. "It's a specific type of long-distance catapult used during the crusades, I'm almost done building it and I think you should take a look at it, make sure we're on same page, you know, when you do your film montage."

"Oh, okay," She nodded like it made sense but she was still reeling from his protective behavior.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked brusquely.

"W-What?" she said, surprised.

"Plans. Do you have any?"

"Um, Saturday? I don't think —"

"Good. Come by my house around two." He handed her a slip of paper. "There's my address." Then he did his single nod thing and walked away.

Chloe stood there, with her hand still suspended in the air from taking his note. "Uh, what just happened?" she asked, dazed.

Mila had a stunned look Chloe was sure matched her own and answered, "I think Derek Souza just invited you over to his house," Mila grinned, "to check out his really long catapult."

"Oh."

…...

It was a bright, crisp morning Chloe woke up to the next day. Sleeping in a little later than usual since she stayed up late chatting with Mila on the phone. They had a lot to talk about after Derek had asked... or rather, told Chloe to stop by his house. Mila, of course, was squirming with light-hearted envy—that Chloe would be in Simon's domain and begged her friend to memorize every detail of his house. She agreed wholeheartedly, of course.

Chloe stretched and hummed with approval when the smell of coffee drifted invitingly into her room. It was the perfect smell to compel her to get up and start her day. She mumbled a few "good mornings" to her dad and Melinda as she padded into the kitchen.

"Getting a little extra sleep this morning, Chlo?" her dad asked teasingly, smoothing out his newspaper.

She snorted a laugh. "Something like that," she mumbled, fumbling with the coffee pot. "What can I say? I'm a wild and crazy girl."

Her dad smiled in response. "Definitely wild and crazy," he said. "Got any wild and crazy plans today?"

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. Just going over to my history partner's house this afternoon. Maybe hang out with Mila later."

"You're studying on a Saturday?" her dad said in mock disbelief. "Is that what teenagers are doing for fun these days?"

"Ha ha," Chloe said sarcastically, enjoying this rare and comfortable exchange with her dad. "My partner insisted that I come over to see some model he built for our project," she said, taking a sip of coffee.

"He?" her dad said, looking a little surprised. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, before clearing his throat. "You're going over to a boy's house? Is he, uh, more than just a partner?"

"Dad! No." Chloe wanted to laugh at the ridiculously awkward expression on her dad's face. "He's just my history partner."

"Well, is he, uh, respectful of your boundaries as a young lady?" He cleared his throat again. "You know, will he be respectful of your personal, uh, being... in a respectful way?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yes, dad, he is very _respectful _of my personal being. He's perfectly safe to be around." _Just rude and obnoxious at times._

"Good. Good..." he mumbled, looking flustered and more uncomfortable by the second. Grabbing her coffee, she headed to her room, thinking it would be a little more relaxing than in her dad's company.

…...

When Chloe pulled up into the driveway of the address Derek had given her, she was feeling both curious and a little nervous. His house was one of those old Victorian homes in a neighborhood that had many homes in the same style. The house was nice, with a few big oak trees surrounding it and she felt a twinge of envy. Chloe had always preferred these older homes than the modern condos her and her dad lived in. _And this neighborhood... It just screamed of outside BBQs and snowmen on a winter's day, with neighborhood kids running around, having all sorts of adventures._

Sighing, she hefted her bag and made her way to the front door. She rang the doorbell and only had to wait a few seconds, before the door swung open, revealing the same Asian man she had seen at the football game.

"You must be Chloe," he said with a smile, the same brilliant smile as Simon's. "Please, please come in."

She stepped through the front door, glancing around the foyer, her eyes taking in the pretty architecture of the house. It was all original woodwork, with neutral colors on the wall. Chloe wasn't sure what she expected from a house full of men but it was surprisingly tidy.

"Can I take your jacket?" he asked.

"Thank you," Chloe said, handing her coat over. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Bae."

"Please, call me Kit," he laughed, hanging up her jacket. "Now, I think those boys are playing video games right now." She followed him down a hallway to a room that had a lot of yelling and laughing and explosions coming from it. "Derek!" Kit bellowed. "Your guest is here." He pushed open a door to din of loudness. Derek and Simon were huddled down in opposing chairs playing some war game on a giant TV.

"Can it be any louder?" Kit shouted over the noise. "Turn that thing down, before you guys lose your hearing!" Simon reluctantly paused the game before flashing his grin at Chloe.

"Derek, your guest is here," his dad said a bit sternly, emphasizing the word guest. "It would be nice if you could stop what your doing. I'm sure she'd rather do something else than watch you guys blow up the world."

"Nah, dad. Chloe would like nothing more than watch us blow crap up," Simon said, throwing her a wink. "Right, Chloe?"

"Simon, I wasn't even talking to you," Kit sighed, which in turn had Simon responding playfully back, drawing his dad into a pseudo argument. While they bickered, Chloe stole a look in Derek's direction. He stood up, looking at the floor, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Uh, are you thirsty?" he rumbled, casting a glance her way. "Want something to drink?"

"Sure," she said, trying not to fidget.

"They could be here for awhile," he said, gesturing at his dad and brother, who were still arguing, if a bit light-heartedly. "Kitchen's this way."

Chloe followed him down another hallway, into a beautiful, modern kitchen. She snorted to herself. _And he said I was privileged _she thought, remembering how he insulted her in the library. Clearly, Derek's dad made a comfortable living. They weren't wealthy, but they could definitely afford some luxuries.

Derek opened the fridge, peering into it's contents. "What would you like? I have soda, juice, water—"

"Water's fine," she said, feeling the need to fidget again. This was strange. She was in Derek's house, soon to be drinking Derek's water and feeling ridiculously self-conscious. The quiet was interrupted loudly by Simon and his dad coming into the kitchen.

"—and don't forget to wash your dishes, Simon. It's not your brother's job to clean up after you," Kit said.

"But he likes to clean up after me," Simon said smiling. "It gives him purpose. Makes him feel like he's accomplished something."

Derek snorted. "I only cleaned up after you because we were trading chores," he said. "Now it's time to pay up, Simon."

Simon's face fell. "What? You weren't doing it out of the goodness of your heart?"

Derek gave him a look. "Laundry and the bathrooms," he stated smugly.

Simon opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. "Fine," he grumbled.

Chloe watched all this with a fascination and envy that a person with no siblings could have.

"Let's go, Chloe," Derek said, handing her a glass of water and gesturing her towards the door.

"Remember, Derek," his dad called, "bedroom doors stay open."

Chloe heard Simon's stifled laughter, before she realized what Kit had insinuated, and she blushed down to her feet. _Does he... does he think Derek and I will... Oh, God._

Derek looked horrified and embarrassed. "Dad! She's my history partner!"

"I know, bud, but those are the rules of the house." Kit looked over at Chloe, and she was sure her face was as bright as the summer sun. "This isn't about you, Chloe. I know you're just partners. We just have to be consistent with the rules."

Simon was trying his best not to laugh but the corners of his mouth were twitching uncontrollably. Derek glowered at his brother. "Sorry bro," Simon said, looking sympathetic. "Now you know how I feel."

Derek muttered something Chloe didn't catch before he said, "C'mon, Chloe." She was only too happy to leave the kitchen as quickly as possible. He led her upstairs into his bedroom. Her eyes drank in the space, trying to find clues to this aloof person who now seemed to take so much of her attention. There weren't any posters, just a few family photographs on the wall. However, there was large bookshelf dedicated to his football trophies. And there were a lot of them. Chloe couldn't help feel a twinge of sadness when she thought of Derek quitting football.

She looked over at him and saw that he was fiddling with a complicated looking contraption on his desk. It was the catapult, obviously a miniature version of the original design.

"Wow," she said, peering down at the tiny ropes and pulleys. "You—you built this? It's incredible."

Derek shrugged in a gesture that could have meant "I know" or "It's not a big deal" but the machine was amazing. Chloe researched medieval weapons enough to know that craftsmanship on Derek's model was the real deal. _He could work on movies, building miniature sets and stuff._

"So this is the basics of this type of catapult," he waved her closer to where he was. "It's not finished yet, so I won't be able to do a demo of it's capabilities but I can show you where they applied the tension to this specific design."

Chloe set her glass down and moved over to where he was, bending over the desk to get a better look. With a pencil, Derek pointed to various parts inside the machine, explaining how soldiers would have transported and assembled the weapon at the battlefield. The area he was pointing to was so small, Chloe had to huddle closer to see what he was talking about. As he described the catapult in mind-numbing detail, Chloe could see that she had actually moved quite close to him as well. She could feel the heat from his arm against her shoulder, his breath in her hair. She swallowed hard, feeling flustered suddenly... and stupid. _Look it me getting all weird because I'm standing close to some guy. Grow up, Chloe. _It didn't help that she just noticed that he smelled... pleasant. Spicy, like a cinnamon stick. She was instantly reminded of Christmas and pumpkin pie, two things that brought up warm and fuzzy feelings, definitely not words she would have used to describe Derek. But there was something else underneath that spicy smell, a sharpness that Chloe's brain registered as all boy... _or young man._

She swallowed hard, her heart beating a little faster. She needed some space, some room to clear her head from all those confusing thoughts. Standing up abruptly, she bumped into him and blushed furiously as she muttered an apology. He looked at her questioningly.

"My back was hurting, bending over like that," she said, hoping she didn't sound as lame as she thought.

Hiding her blush, she turned away and looked at the photos on the wall. She observed them closely while pretending to her stretch her back. A few of them were normal family pictures. Then there were football pictures of Derek at various ages. But the photo Chloe kept returning to was of Tori, Simon, and Derek on Halloween. Chloe guessed they may have been seven or eight years old. Tori was adorable and sassy, dressed as Princess Leia, while Simon was grinning happily as a pirate. Derek, however, was wearing normal clothes and Chloe had to smile at his no-nonsense expression she was so familiar with.

"So, what's your costume?" she asked.

"I'm not wearing one," Derek said. "I didn't like wearing them. The material they used in most of those kid's costumes were either scratchy or sticky and I hated that as a kid. And I didn't see the point of dressing up anyway."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up in amusement. "So, you were always, you know, this serious? Even as a kid?"

He didn't say anything, just continued to look at her like he waiting for her to get to her point.

"And you apparently have very sensitive skin," she continued, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "I wouldn't have guessed that. Do you have to buy special soap?" she asked, unable to stop herself from teasing him a little.

"Wow. Who knew you were such a comedian," he said dryly. "And no, for your information, I don't have to buy special soap. I just don't like polyester or wearing some stupid costume."

"Ah, I see," she said, grinning now.

"No, you don't see," he said, glowering at her. "Since you're such an expert on costumes, what was your brilliant costume at age seven?"

Chloe rolled her eyes at his tone and had to take a moment to rifle through her memories of past Halloweens. "I was a..." she paused, squinting her eyes in concentration. "I was a strawberry," she stated.

It was Derek's turn to look amused. "You were," his eyes crinkling, "a fruit?" One corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "That's fitting," he muttered.

"What's fitting?" Chloe asked, instantly annoyed at the implied insult. Derek simply shook his head and smirked at her. She stomped over to him and crossed her arms. "What's fitting?"

"Nothing," he said simply, clearly enjoying the shift in power.

"Why? Because I'm fruity or something? Whatever the hell that means?" Chloe huffed. Glaring up at him, she tried to stare him down, but with Derek, that strategy was useless. She knew he wasn't going to explain himself. "Fine. Don't tell me. I've seen your catapult and now I think it's time for me to go home."

"Fine," he said, now smirking with pure enjoyment.

"Fine." Chloe marched out of the room and down the stairs, making her way to the front door. She grabbed her jacket from the hall closet and nearly jumped a foot when she saw him standing behind her. "Do you have to do that?" He just looked at her, like he was still enjoying his inside joke with himself. "Please tell your dad and Simon goodbye for me."

He opened the door for her. "See you on Monday," he said, still with that irritating expression on his face. Chloe just glared at him and walked out the door.

As she drove home, she racked her brain, trying to figure out what he meant by his obnoxious statement.

"That's fitting."

"That's fitting."

_What on God's green Earth is that supposed to mean? It's definitely not good, whatever it is. God, why is he so freaking frustrating?_

"That's fitting."

It was going to seriously bug her, and Chloe had no idea what it meant—not until she got in the shower the next morning and grabbed her favorite shampoo. Lathering her hair up she paused, then understood.

_My shampoo..._

It was strawberry scented.

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	11. Mila's Observations

A/N: Yelloooooow! A huge thank you for those hanging in there with my story and a bear hug to those who reviewed. So nice to know people are interested in my lil' ol' story. Goodness, life has been hectic. I know I've been busy when I feel breathless all the time and slightly cross-eyed. PLUS, I had the worst writer's block with this chapter. I would just stare at my computer thinking, "Write something! Anything! You're wasting valuable time!" It kind of sucked, really. But I pushed through it and my betas (Tweety4be and Fanpire4000) were really awesome, so a HUGE thank you to them for helping me get through such a blocked (?) time. Seriously, I worship them...in a totally non-creepy way, of course. *laughs nervously* I think what was so hard was the fact that this chapter is a filler/transitional chapter and I'm really not very good with them, but I needed to set up stuff for future chapters and it was very necessary (I think). So, I'm hoping you all enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers...So sad. I think I may cry myself to sleep...

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"So, let me get this straight. He knows your hair smells like strawberries?"

Weaving through the Monday morning students, Chloe cringed at Mila's question. "Yes, but—"

"How? Did he bury his face in your hair?" Mila asked, incredulous. "I mean, he's got to get pretty close to smell you."

"No, he didn't bury his face—"

"Don't you think it's a little strange that he noticed," her friend continued slowly, suspiciously. "I mean, _I_ only know the smell of your shampoo because I've actually used it."

"I know, but—"

"Do you think," Mila said, her voice taking on an edge that suggested she just figured out the answer to a very juicy riddle. "Do you think he likes you? You know, like, _likes_ you?"

"Oh, God, no," Chloe scoffed. "There's no way! He can barely stand me."

"No, Chloe," Mila countered. "He can barely stand anyone, but he seems to tolerate you just fine."

"Yes, key word is tolerate." Chloe hitched her bag a little higher over her shoulder. "That's not really a sign that suggests he likes me." She shook her head at such a ridiculous idea. "No, I think he just likes to mess with me."

"Hm, interesting way of messing with you?" Mila wondered. "It just seems kind of an...intimate thing to notice, is all."

Chloe smiled weakly at Mila's statement. After all, Chloe noticed his smell as well—_God, that sounds strange—_but she sure wasn't going to mention it to Mila. Initially, Chloe debated on telling Mila about the—what Chloe was now calling the "Strawberry Incident"—knowing her friend would make it a bigger deal than it actually was. But if Chloe mentioned she thought he smelled like a cinnamon cookie or Christmas or whatever...Well, she didn't want to know how Mila would react with that piece of information.

They stopped at Mila's locker and Chloe slyly changed the subject to Simon, knowing Mila couldn't resist that particular subject. Relieved that the focus was no longer on Derek and fruity smells, Chloe chatted with Mila as she gathered her things from her locker.

"Oh, before I forget," Mila said, rifling through her bag. "I got you this." She handed Chloe a small aerosol can.

"You got me mace?" Chloe asked, feeling suddenly sappy over such a non-sappy gift. "That is really nice, Mila. Thank you." She hugged Mila, suddenly feeling so grateful for having such a amazing friend.

"Well, what's the point of me having the mace and not you," Mila said, hugging her back. "It made no sense. Plus, if that asshole messes with you, we can both mace him at the same time. You can get his face. I'll get his crotch." Mila smiled dazzling at that, like she wasn't talking about macing anyone at all, but rather answering a pageant question, specifically with answer of, "World peace."

Chloe chuckled softly. "That sounds like a good plan."

…...

The rest of the day followed without incident. Chloe's classes went smoothly, she spent lunch with Rae, Derek had greeted her with his single nod when they saw each other in History and Royce had studiously ignored her.

In fact, the next few days were practically identical.

Until, Thursday.

The morning started innocently enough. Chloe was walking to her locker before her dreaded math class and ran into Liz on the way and the two girls chatted until they reached Chloe's locker.

Liz shifted on her feet. "So, are you and Derek okay now?"

"Um, yeah. I think we've come to an understanding of sorts," Chloe said, a little vaguely.

Liz nodded at this. "It seems like he's a little more bearable to be around now. At least, according to Tori."

"Really?" Chloe asked, suddenly interested. "How so—"

"What is it with you two and whispering?" a voice said.

Chloe turned and saw Tori strolling towards them, shaking her head dramatically at them. She sidled up to Liz, throwing an arm around her best friend.

"So, I heard you were over Simon and Derek's on Saturday. Pretty short visit from what I heard," Tori said, smirking. "Why is that? Was Derek being an ass?"

Chloe smiled a little. "He was...challenging."

Tori snorted a laugh. "Wow, that's an understatement if I've ever heard one." She looked at Chloe for a moment, still smiling, but with an unflinching intensity that made Chloe a little uncomfortable. "I must say, he's been almost—"

"Tori," A guy's voice boomed from down the hall. Tori groaned and removed her arm around Liz's shoulder, before turning around. It was Brady, strutting arrogantly over to where they were. His eyes lingered on Tori's legs as he got closer and he gave her a cocky smile.

"You're looking good, Tori," he said slowly, giving her another once over. Tori wasn't amused. She crossed her arms when he stood in front of her, with an expression that clearly said, "What do you want?"

"I love it when you where these cute, little skirts," he whispered, although it was loud enough for both Liz and Chloe to hear.

Tori just rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm so glad for that, Brady. I only live to please you," she said.

He smiled at that, his dimples peeking out of his cheeks. Chloe had to hand it to the guy, he was good looking, but his overblown ego ruined any attractiveness in Chloe's mind. And his rudeness as well, he didn't even acknowledge Liz or Chloe standing there.

"Oh, I know it, gorgeous," he said assuredly. _Oh, vomit._ Tori just leveled a glare at him. "So, I wanted to give you a heads up," he continued. "Two Saturday's from now, I'm having a party. My folks will be out of town. Really think you should come." He grinned with intent. "I'll make it worth your while."

"Oh, really," Tori said sarcastically. "Make it worth my while, huh? Do you really think that pathetic line will work with me, Brady?" she said, hands on her hips. "I know your little routine. You're used to hooking up with skanky, little sluts and dropping them the moment you screw them. And, Brady, that's so not my style, okay. In fact, I find that behavior just plain nasty. It's not hot. At all."

Chloe bit her lip to keep from smiling. She had to give props to Tori—the girl knew how to take down a cocky guy. She glanced at Brady, expecting anger but was surprised to see him grinning even wider now, which was strange since the guy was known to have a wicked temper.

"God, you got one sassy mouth on you," he said with admiration. "You don't even know how hot that makes me."

_Aaaaaannd it just got really uncomfortable around here, _Chloe thought. She glanced over Liz who looked just as disturbed as Chloe felt.

"I'd really rather not think about your state of...hotness, right now, Brady," Tori said, looking disgusted. "Anyway, I have plans that night. There's a little party going on over at Simon and Derek's."

At that statement, Brady did look angry. "Ah, The Quitter and his sidekick, huh? Sounds like my idea of fucking hell."

Chloe heart clenched at Brady's insult at Derek and Simon, and she felt a wave of possessive anger spread over her, surprising her.

Tori gave Brady a look that could have frozen fire. "Excuse me?"

"I said, The Quitter and his fucking sidekick," Brady repeated angrily. "You know, the guy who quit the football team the moment things got a little rough. Left us all hanging. Our one shot at state ruined because of him," he seethed. Tori looked like she was on the verge of slapping him. In fact, her hand was raised ever so slightly with the palm out.

"Unlike you, Derek has a conscience," Tori spat out. "And quit blaming him and look in the mirror for once. Maybe if you were a better quarterback you wouldn't have to rely on someone else to drag your sorry ass to victory at every game. Have you ever thought of that?"

Brady looked shocked, then livid. There were bright spots of red on his cheeks and he was shaking with anger.

"I think you need to take a step back, Brady," a guy's voice stated, "I don't like you that angry so close to my cousin."

Brady jerked towards the voice. Simon was leaning casually against the wall across from them, his expression hard.

"Fuck off, Simon," Brady replied coldly.

Simon smiled at that, but there was no humor in his eyes. "You need to take a step back, Brady. Or I'll make you take a step back," Simon warned.

"Whoa, feeling pretty tough without your big, bad brother to back you up, are you?" Brady taunted, squaring off, rising to Simon's challenge.

Simon calmly walked over, getting right into Brady's face. "I don't need my brother to put some douchebag in his place," he said menacingly. Liz stepped back, pulling Chloe with her. Chloe didn't even realize her heart was pounding at the tension unfolding in front of her.

"Okay, I think that's enough," Tori said, getting in between them and pushing them apart. "Let's just take it down a notch, shall we. C'mon, Simon, let's go." Tori pulled at Simon's arm, dragging him along, but Simon didn't take his eyes off Brady.

"You better listen to your pretty cousin, Simon," Brady said in a nasty voice. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Shut up, Brady!" Tori snapped. "Trust me, I'm saving your ass from a serious beat down. Simon, let's go." Reluctantly, Simon let Tori lead him down the hallway, but he never took his eyes of Brady, not until they disappeared around a corner.

Brady muttered out a string of expletives furiously under his breath. He punched a locker hard – causing Liz and Chloe to jump at the loud bang – before he stalked off down the hall.

"Well, that was exciting," Liz said breathlessly. "We should probably get to class before the bell rings."

Eyes wide, Chloe nodded absently and turned to walk quickly to her class.

…...

If the drama of the day stopped there, Chloe would've been happy. But it didn't. The moment she stepped out of her last class before lunch, Rae approached her.

Without so much as a greeting, Rae stood in front of Chloe, arms crossed. "So, I guess it's safe to say you and Tori are best friends now, right?"

Chloe was utterly confused. "Rae, wha—"

"I saw you guys, hanging out at your locker before school, chatting like you've known each other for years," Rae said bitterly. "How could you, Chloe? How could you even stand to be around her knowing how she's made my life a living hell?"

"Rae, I'm friend's with Liz, who's best friend is Tori. You know tha—"

"I just thought you were better than that. A better friend," Rae shook her head. "I guess I was wrong," she said, before spinning around and walking away.

Chloe just stood there, mouth open to say something—anything—she wasn't entirely sure what. _What the hell just happened?_ She was too stunned at Rae's accusation to follow her and talk some sense into her.

Automatically, Chloe texted Mila to see where she was at for lunch. Mila was heading to her favorite cafe with Jen and Ashley—and Chloe promptly met them to tag along. When they all settled themselves with their lunch, she relayed the confrontation in the morning between Tori, Brady and Simon. Mila practically swooned at the thought of a feisty Simon. Then, Chloe shared the one-sided conversation with Rae.

"So, you feel pretty strongly that there's some kind of history between Rae and Tori," Jen prompted.

Warming her hands with her coffee, Chloe nodded. "That's just the feeling I get, doesn't mean I'm right, though," she said, feeling awful. She hated having a friend angry with her. "It's just, the way they interact, it seems like it's really personal. I mean, Tori is a pretty aggressive, but she seems to have singled Rae out way more than anyone else."

"If that's what you think, Chloe, then you're probably right," Mila replied sympathetically. "The question is then, why would Rae not say anything?"

"You mean, why would she lie?" Ashley asked bluntly. "I know you think Rae has a right to keep certain things private, Chloe, but she can say that's what she's doing. Instead, she's pretending—lying—that there's no past. That's hardly someone you can trust," Ashley reasoned.

Both Jen and Mila agreed. "I know it's hard, but you don't have anything to feel bad about," Jen said. "Even if there is no history, you have a right to talk to anyone you want."

Chloe shrugged, unsure. If it was Mila, Tori targeted, Chloe wouldn't be able to stand being in a twenty foot radius within Tori's vicinity. _But Rae..._There's was something about her, or their friendship, that held Chloe back.

Sighing, Chloe asked, "What do you guys know about Tori? Maybe we can piece together whatever thing they have going on between them."

The girls convened for a few minutes—Mila and Jen didn't know much about Tori's background but Ashley knew some, having a couple mutual friends.

"I don't know many details, just the basic info," Ashley said. "I know that Tori has lived with her dad all her life and they have a really close relationship. Her mom lives in some small town just outside of New York City with her husband and half-sister. Tori doesn't get along with them. At all." Ashley raised her eyebrows to emphasize the point. "Tori spends her summers with them—wait, she used to but she hasn't for a couple summers now, I think."

Some idea was bouncing in Chloe's head. "You said her mom lives in a small town just outside the city, right?" Chloe asked slowly. "Rae's mom, Jacinda, has a sister that lives in a town about forty-five minutes outside of the city. Rae usually visits them for a month or so during the summer as well. Do you know what the town is called?" Chloe asked.

Ashley shook her head. "I have no idea but I could probably find out."

Chloe furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to remember what the town was called. She couldn't, but she was sure if she heard the name of it, she would recognize it. For a second, she debated on asking Derek, then quickly stashed it as the dumbest idea of all time. If anything, his family was like Fort Knox, and remembering how he reacted the last time she brought up something personal...well, she wasn't looking for a repeat performance.

Mila nudged her shoulder and gave her a warm smile. "It'll be okay, Chloe."

Chloe smiled her thanks before they changed topics and chatted about lighter, funnier things.

…...

The day passed quietly after lunch and before Chloe knew it she was walking out of Drama with Mila when she saw Derek waiting patiently for her outside of her class. She was a little surprised to see him since this was the first time this week he met her after class. He greeted both of them with a nod but his eyes locked onto something behind them and his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. It didn't take a neurosurgeon to know who Derek was glowering at. _Royce. _Both Chloe and Mila turned to see Royce return the glare with his own before he looked away and stalked down the hall with Amber in the opposite direction.

Mila glanced at Chloe and whispered, "Derek's not easing up on Royce at all, is he?" Mila eyed Derek closely. "I must say, I think his protectiveness is quite hot. Don't you?" Chloe promptly choked on nothing, coughing loudly while Mila smacked her on the back, still scrutinizing Derek as he continued to glare down the hall after Royce. "I mean, he's no Simon, but still," Mila continued, now raking her eyes up and down his body none too subtly, "pretty hot." Mila smiled widely. "Especially his butt."

Still coughing, Chloe's eyes widened, then traitorously copped a glance at his ass before her face lit up like Fourth of July and she quickly looked away as he turned to face them.

"You okay?" Derek rumbled.

Chloe nodded jerkily, "Yeah, yeah, fine. Just, you know, choked on my drool—spit, I mean, spit—" she was sure she was blushing purple at this point. "I think I'm fine now." She gave him a shaky smile, "So, uh, we should probably get to the library, right? Got a lot of stuff to do. Tick tock," she said, tapping on her wrist, then waved to a grinning Mila. "See you later." Spinning on her heel, Chloe marched quickly down the hall. Derek soon caught up with her, his long legs easily keeping up with her speed walk.

"I'll call you later, Chloe," Mila called after her. Something in her tone compelled Chloe to glance back at her friend. Mila was laughing silently while pantomiming for Chloe to pinch Derek's butt. Feeling her face heat up, Chloe hurriedly faced forward and increased her pace.

"Everything okay?" Derek asked, as he kept up with her. "You seemed to be in a hurry."

"Oh, do I? I'm just really excited to, uh, study is all," she said quickly, wincing when she heard the slight crack in her voice. _And trying not to think of that bizarre conversation about your butt. Honestly, what has gotten into Mila! _"You know, because studying is fun," she said, feeling flustered and weird. She pointed forward. "Look! The library."

Derek's eyebrows shot up like he was contemplating her sanity. "Yeah, it's the library," he said slowly. "It's still in the same place as last week."

"Of course it is," Chloe said nervously, realizing she was on the verge of making a total ass out of herself in front of him. Again. She decided it was better for her to be silent as they walked through the library and entered their study room. Pulling her things from her bag, she quickly began working, determined to talk very little during their study time, which she thought would be relatively easy since Derek wasn't the chatty type. So when he spoke, she jumped in surprise.

"I hear you had a pretty interesting morning," he said. Chloe glanced up at him, his expression was blank but his green eyes looked amused.

"You could say that," Chloe muttered. "Did Simon tell you?"

"Yeah, and Tori," he replied. "Simon wanted to apologize for not saying hi to you."

Chloe smiled. "Well, he was a little preoccupied."

"He felt pretty bad that you had to see that," Derek answered. "Both he and Tori were still pretty pissed when they told me about Brady."

"Well, I understand why," Chloe said. "Brady wasn't very nice."

Derek grunted. "He never is. He's a total dick."

"It must bug you and Simon, when he hits on Tori," Chloe said with a hint of a question in her voice, curious about his relationship with his family.

The corner of Derek's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Actually, we think it's pretty funny. I mean, he's been after her for awhile and she just keeps shooting him down. She's come up with some pretty good one-liners." His smirk widened, as if he was remembering a particularly amusing memory. "They have this routine. Brady comes onto her, then she insults him and he seems to like it." Derek expression changed into mild disgust. "It's funny but kind of disturbing at the same time. Like he gets off on being humiliated by her."

"Yeah, I noticed that," she mumbled, remembering the lust in Brady's eyes after Tori rebuffed him. "It's pretty vomitrocious."

"What?" Derek asked, one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Chloe repeated, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

"That word you used."

"Uh, vomitrocious," Chloe said, feeling the start of a blush creeping up her neck.

"Vomitrocious," Derek said slowly, rolling the word in his mouth. "I've never heard of that word before. Tell me, would I find it in Webster's?" he asked, not bothering to hide the mocking in his tone.

Chloe blushed brighter, wondering why she always felt like an idiot around this guy. "For your information, I made it up when I was ten. And it's a word I use only in extremely gross situations," she said, stiffly. "Brady getting all, uh, hot and bothered, in this case, seems appropriate." Sensing he was going to tease her again, she quickly said, "So, what's up with Tori? She really doesn't like it when people insult you or Simon, huh?" _Awesome job, Chloe. Way to not stay impersonal._

Derek simply shrugged. "She's a pain in the ass but she's loyal. To those she likes," he added. "There's not a lot of people she likes, however. She has some trust issues." There was a finality with the way he said the last sentence that instantly told Chloe he wasn't going to reveal anymore on the issue.

Chloe hummed thoughtfully as she returned to her books, but her brain was intent on replaying all the day's events. She frowned when she remembered her confrontation with Rae, feeling uncomfortable knowing her friend was unhappy with her.

"Was she mean to you?" Derek asked suddenly.

Startled, Chloe glanced up at him, his face carefully neutral. "Who?" she asked, momentarily confused.

"Tori. Was she mean to you?"

"No, not at all," she said, shaking her head. "She's always been—" Chloe struggled to find the right word. "—civil to me." For a moment, she debated on telling him anything, she knew he wouldn't reveal anything private about Tori, but he was looking at her expectantly. "One of my friends doesn't get along with Tori..." she started, tentatively.

Derek snorted. "She doesn't get along with most people."

Smiling slightly, Chloe answered, "Oh, I know, but they really hate each other. And when my friend saw me talking with Tori this morning..." Chloe sighed, feeling awful again. "She accused me of not being loyal—betraying her, or something like that."

"And do you feel like you did?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Chloe shook her head, confused. "The thing is, my friend, Rae, insists there's no past history between them but I don't feel like that's the truth. I think there is some history there." It was no accident that she dropped Rae's name and she watched him closely, gauging his reaction. At first, he seemed thoughtful, like he was trying to remember something. But after a few moments, she saw the barely perceptible flicker in his eyes and Chloe was sure he just recognized Rae's name. He nodded slowly, his face blank.

"Sounds like she's not a very good friend," he said simply. His statement only spiked Chloe's curiosity further, but she kept silent and returned to her studying. The clearing of his throat, brought Chloe's attention back to him.

"So, uh, Simon wanted me to ask you..." Derek started, "well, there's a party at my house two weekends from now, on Saturday, and Simon wanted me to invite you."

His face was expressionless, as usual, but Chloe thought she detected a nervousness in his voice. _But that's not possible. Why would he be nervous? It's just my overactive imagination acting up again._

"Yes, Tori said something about a party to Brady. That's actually what set him off," she said. "Do you guys usually have parties?"

"Christ, no," he said with a grimace. "Simon had a pretty big one last year, when my dad was out of town. I told him not to but he had one anyway. I didn't stick around for it but when I got home afterward, the house was pretty trashed." He looked irritated. "When our dad got back, we both got in pretty big trouble, even though I didn't have anything to do with it. But that didn't matter. I was held responsible because I didn't stop Simon." He scowled at the memory. "After we scrubbed the entire house with toothbrushes, there was no way I'd let him throw a large one again."

"But this won't be a large one?" she said, smiling at the image of Simon and Derek cleaning with just toothbrushes. "I'm assuming your dad won't be there."

"No, my dad and Tori's dad will be at some law seminar." When Chloe looked a little puzzled, he explained, "They own a law firm together. And Simon's been begging me to throw another party, with the premise that it will be small and controlled." Derek shrugged. "He finally wore me down, I guess."

Chloe nodded, feeling excited and flattered at the invite. "I know you said it's supposed to be small but can I bring some of my friends?" she asked hopefully, thinking of how thrilled Mila would be when she told her. She added hastily, "Don't worry, it'll only be a few people."

"Of course you can, Chloe," he said, smiling slightly. There was a gentleness in his voice that startled her and his expression was one she couldn't read but she felt herself blush anyway.

She swallowed hard. "Okay, thank you," she murmured quietly. "I'm looking forward to it."

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	12. Hands

A/N: Hey people! A huge thank you for those who are still following this story, and a little ass grab to those who reviewed! Okay, I've been waiting for-like-ever to write this chapter. I've thought about it, dissected it and giggled maniacally over it. So, of course, when I wrote it - it was giant hot mess. Seriously, I was pissing myself off so bad because it just wasn't turning out the way I wanted. Erghh...Anyway, I did the best I could to smooth it out and it's not quite as sloppy. Oh, and there's a scene where a song is playing in a car and it's a song I relate to Chloe and Derek. The band is called The Black Seeds, the song is _Got a Girl,_ and I saw them live and was blown away. They put on such a good show. Aaaaaaaand I thought I could just squeeze their song in here, real sly like. Now, about this chapter, I really hope you guys like it!

ALSO, my beta Fanpire4000, has a new fic called The Coveted One. It's a Hunger Games AU and it is AWESOME! Seriously, if you guys like Hunger Games, check it out. You don't even have to have read Catching Fire or Mockingjay to follow it and I love that it's AU, so we get to know these characters in completely different situations. I'm absolutely in love with it and I may have to ask it to marry me. heehee. A huge thank you to Fanpire and Tweety4be. Those ladies are really instrumental at helping me get my stories out and I'm so ridiculously grateful to them. Aw...

AND, I'm trying to attempt the impossible task of teaching myself Photoshop. *whines* It's so haaaaaarrddd...But I thought I could always practice my (newly and pathetic) Photoshop skills on a sketch of Derek. Check it out on my brand new, shiny DeviantART page. I don't think I can add a link to this so here it is in weird form: http:/ madamemouse (dot) deviantart (dot) com . It's still a work in progress. I'm going to try and add a background in there at some point, when I find the time, but I'll probably do a few sketches from this story and post it there when I'm feeling inspired OR when I get the inevitable writer's block :D

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers.

* * *

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Chloe was quite sure she had some damage to her right ear. The moment she got the chance, she called Mila to tell her about Simon's party. Her friend let out a shriek so loud and piercing, it felt like an air horn had blew directly into her ear. And that was over the phone. Who knew what kind destruction would've happened if Chloe had been standing next to Mila. The girl had some serious pipes.

Her ear seemed to still be ringing when she stayed at Aunt Lauren's over the weekend. And even now, on Monday morning, she thought she could detect the barest buzzing in her ear. It didn't help that Mila was chattering away as they walked down the hall, between their second and third period classes, causing Chloe's poor eardrum to twitch in anticipated terror.

Mila's excitement eventually gave way to uncertainty and gloom, knowing there was no chance for anything to happen at all since Simon still had a girlfriend. "And I still can't even talk to him, or even look him in the eye without making a complete fool of myself," she lamented, as they weaved through the halls. "I can strike up conversation with literally anyone but him." She ran rough fingers through her hair. "So even if he and his girlfriend break up, there's at least five girls waiting in the wings—those freaking vultures—ready to scoop him up the moment he's single," she whined, "and I can't even say hi to him."

"Well, maybe this party will give you a chance to actually get to know him," Chloe soothed, rubbing her friend's shoulder. "Get to be on friendly terms with him. It's a start, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mila muttered dejectedly.

Chloe gazed at her friend sympathetically. Simon was a great guy, but Mila had to understand she was just as great too. She wished Mila could see herself as Chloe saw her—sweet, spirited, funny and pretty. So, Chloe told her as much.

"Thanks, Chloe," Mila replied gratefully. "So, have you heard from Rae yet?"

Chloe sighed. "No, I only called her twice, emailed her once and texted her a half dozen times," she stated sarcastically, "and nothing. I really don't know what else to do."

"You tried and that's enough. You haven't done anything wrong. If she's too stubborn and dumb to give you a chance to explain yourself," Mila stated, shaking her head, "then it's really her loss."

Agreeing absently, Chloe didn't feel as hurt as she had initially by Rae's behavior, she was feeling angry. Angry that her _supposed _friend was intent on ignoring her attempts to resolve the issue. This was not how friends acted with each other. And Chloe already promised herself that at the end of the day, she was going to tell Rae _exactly_ how she felt.

Chloe found her chance right before lunch, knowing Rae usually went to her locker before heading to the cafeteria. Before Rae had chance to even notice her, Chloe had swooped down next to her, hidden behind Rae's opened locker door, so when Rae closed her locker, Chloe appeared all horror-movie style in front of her. To Chloe's immense satisfaction, Rae had jumped a little at the sight of her.

"Hi, Rae," she said calmly, despite feeling slightly anxious confronting her. "Why didn't you return any of my calls or texts?" she asked matter-of-factly.

It took about half a second for Rae to regain her composure. "I think you know why, Chloe," she replied evenly.

"Not really an answer, Rae," Chloe replied, crossing her arms. "From my understanding, you're mad because you think I'm friends with Tori, or friendly with her. Am I right?"

"I'm not doing this right now," Rae muttered, and turned on her heel to walk away, but Chloe wasn't having it.

"And when can you _do this_, Rae?" Chloe asked, following her. "It's not very fair to tell someone off and not give them a chance to respond, you know."

Rae acted like she didn't hear Chloe and continued to walk ahead, which only made Chloe angrier. She may be sweet and quiet by nature, but she was no wimp. Speeding up, she planted herself in front of Rae, blocking her path.

"You got your chance to tell me how you felt, now I get mine," Chloe said determinedly, ignoring the look of surprise on Rae's face. "First of all, my intention was never, ever to hurt you, but you know I'm friends with Liz, who's incredibly close to Tori. So I think it's obvious that I'm going to interact with Tori at some point. And I'm not going to put Liz in an uncomfortable situation and threaten my friendship with her by being rude to someone she's best friends with."

Rae opened her mouth to argue but Chloe plowed on. "Also, I really don't think you've been honest with me about your history with Tori. I feel like there much more than you've let on between you two and it makes me nervous about you and our friendship. I...I don't trust you." _There, I said it, _she thought. Of course, she thought she'd be a little less blunt about it. She watched Rae closely, but Rae just stood there—stunned—her mouth slightly open. Then, without a word, Rae shot Chloe a glare and stalked away.

Chloe wasn't sure how she felt after confronting Rae. From Rae's lack of reaction, the whole thing just seemed so strange and anticlimactic. _And sad._ Mila's words echoed in her mind...

"You tried and that's enough. You haven't done anything wrong. If she's too stubborn and dumb to give you a chance to explain yourself, then it's really her loss."

Mila was right. Chloe had tried her best and it had to be enough. The only thing left to do, was to let the entire situation go.

…...

The next few days went by quickly, with the exception of Wednesday night, due to Mila dragging Chloe out for a shopping excursion. Chloe had enough clothes, but Mila was on the verge of breaking out in hives from how nervous she was for the party and she wanted to have the perfect outfit for it. Chloe was utterly exhausted by the time they finished their shopping trip, carrying multiple bags, mostly Mila's purchases. And she wasn't exactly sure how Mila managed to do it, but she somehow convinced Chloe into buying the tightest jeans that had ever been made, EVER. They were so scandalously tight, she could hardly get them past her hips and it took both her and Mila to yank them up and, finally, zip them. Sometime last year, Chloe's hips and butt decided to mature and they suddenly popped out and rounded while the rest of her stayed the same...small. Since she spent most of her life and early teenage years with absolutely no curves to speak of, she wasn't entirely comfortable with displaying her body, even though she was still very much on the petite side. She had plenty of flattering jeans that minimized the roundness but these jeans did the exact opposite. With the combination of puppy-dog eyes and declaring all boys loved curvy hips, Mila had prodded Chloe into buying them and Chloe reluctantly gave in, with the intention of never wearing them unless under a very large sweater.

Thankfully, a calm Thursday followed and Chloe found Derek waiting for her again after her Drama class. A quick wave of goodbye from Mila, they headed to the library in comfortable silence. Settling into their study room, they both worked quietly for a half an hour before Chloe pulled out her computer.

"Oh, before I forget, Derek," she said, clicking a few buttons. "Here's what I have so far with our film montage. I wanted to get your opinion before I finished it." She played the clip, feeling a little self-conscious at showing her work. It surprised her how much she wanted him to like it.

He watched quietly and said, when it had finished, "It's good. Really good." He almost sounded impressed. "Where did you find those photos?" he asked, referring to the catapults and soldiers in the Medieval settings.

"I photoshopped them. I took a number of different images and blended them all together," she replied nonchalantly, like it didn't take her _hours_ to do them. "Then put them in an editing program. I'll probably add some live action shots too. Spice it up a bit."

"Well, you're good at this," he said. "Is this what you want to do? As a career?"

"Editing? Yes, definitely," Chloe replied, smiling. "Originally, I was set on being a director, but when I started editing, I really couldn't get enough of it. I—I don't know—I love writing, and editing is just another form of storytelling, I guess."

"More than directing?" Derek asked, looking puzzled.

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. "Most directors are involved in the editing process but when a movie is finished shooting, there's hours and hours of film that needs to be filtered through. An editor has a huge say in what shot is important in which scene, and I really like figuring out the pace and the rhythm and tone of each scene. I seem to have a knack for it and I just love it. Kind of like you and football." The moment those words left her mouth, Chloe wished she could just shove them right back down her throat. "I-I—"

Derek simply shrugged. "I liked football. A lot, actually, but I never loved it."

"Do you miss it?" she blurted before she could stop herself. _God, do I know the simple concept of shutting up? What the hell is wrong with me?_

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before answering, "Yeah, I miss it. I miss the strategy of the game. Figuring out the other teams plays—reading the offensive line." He looked a little sad. "I've played it for so long it's weird to suddenly...not play it anymore. It was the one part of my life I never had to hold back on. That I not only could be as aggressive as I wanted, but I was encouraged to be." He looked down, fiddling with his pencil. "But after..." he paused, and Chloe barely breathed as she waited for him to continue. "After the accident, I knew something changed. Inside me. I knew I would always hold back on the field. I would always be worried about..." He didn't finish.

_Hurting someone_, Chloe thought. She was about to say she understood, but she didn't. She would never understand. So instead she said, "That makes sense." Then, sensing the mood needed to be changed, she added teasingly, "So what's your true love then? Math?"

He grunted at that. "What if it is?" he asked dryly.

"Well, if it is, I'll have to make fun of you for the rest of your life," Chloe replied, smiling. He scowled at that, but the scowl didn't quite meet his eyes.

"I guess I'll have to put up with your teasing then," he offered, rolling his eyes. "Because I love math. And don't get me started on Physics."

"Trust me, I won't," she reassured. "Anyway, my teasing would only be a front to my real feelings." Her smile widened. "The truth is, I'd be insanely jealous that you can actually understand it, much less enjoy it."

"So, I take it you really suck at math?" he asked bluntly.

Chloe shot him a look. "I didn't say I sucked," she retorted, "it's just my class is...cranially challenging is all."

He snorted. "Cranially challenging?" he asked, with a small smile. "That's just a fancy way of saying you suck."

She flashed him a withering glare, which he completely ignored. "Which math class is it?" he asked.

"Algebra," she mumbled.

He craned his ear towards her. "Uh, what? I didn't quite catch that."

"I said, Algebra," she enunciated with as much attitude she could muster—almost sure he would scoff at her math-suckiness.

He looked at her for a moment, his neutral expression firmly in place, before saying, "Are you having trouble understanding your homework right now?"

"Maybe," Chloe muttered.

"I'll take that maybe as a yes?" he prodded. He leaned back in his chair, then let out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. I'll help with your homework," he said, like Chloe had been bugging him for years to help him and he'd finally gave in.

"Hey, I didn't ask—"

"Are you always this ungrateful when someone offers to help you?" he interrupted, his eyebrows raised.

Chloe just gaped at him. "No!" she finally exclaimed.

"Good," he said, pulling out the chair next to him. "Come sit by me and we'll go through your homework."

She was about to tell him to shove it, but she really could use the help, and beggars couldn't be choosers. So she pushed her math textbook across the table and moved over to his side, grumbling about how bossy he was and sat down.

He thumbed through the pages of her textbook, stopping where she told him to and began reading the problems aloud. Listening intently, she was determined to not look like a complete moron in front of him. He pulled a sheet of paper out from his notebook and placed it down in front of them, writing the first problem down.

And that's when Chloe noticed his hands.

She had a thing for hands—at least, she started to the moment she laid eyes on Derek's. _How did I not notice them before? _They were nice...really nice. Large but not meaty, like she assumed someone his size would have. And graceful. She watched, almost hypnotized, as he smoothed down a page in her textbook, his voice sounding distant as she focused solely on his grip on his pencil. She swallowed loudly, the sound echoing in her ears. There was a way his hands moved about—deliberate—like he was all too aware of how strong he was and would always be careful with his touch. Then her eyes drifted upwards to his forearms, bare in his t-shirt, the muscles flexing lightly under his smooth skin.

_Was is getting hot in here? _She wondered. It felt like the temperature had just spiked at least ten degrees. She fanned herself absently, her body now buzzing with warm tingles as her eyes drank in the sight of his powerful biceps and shoulders. Muscles tightening and loosening. His spicy smell now wafting around her. She suddenly felt light-headed and the intensity of the tingling had increased about a thousand percent as her gaze migrated back down to his perfect hands.

"Chloe? Are you okay?"

Her eyes instantly snapped to his. "W-What?" she stammered breathlessly.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, looking concerned. "You look kind of flushed."

"I-I-I was just—just—I—" _Oh, crap! Quick! Make something up—tell him you're wearing too many layers of clothes, you're not feeling well, you might have a fever. Whatever you do, do not tell him it's because of his hands!_

"I-I was, um, just thinking about your hands." _Wait. What?_

"What?" Derek asked, looking confused.

Chloe felt her already warm face explode with heat. She shot to her feet. "Excuse me, but I need to use the restroom now," she said. As quick as she was able, and still retaining what was left of her tattered dignity, she fled from the room. When she burst into the bathroom, she was practically hyperventilating.

_WHAT. THE HELL. WAS THAT?_

_Oh, my God! Whatthehellwasthat!_

She stared at herself in the mirror like she was a stranger, all red and wild-eyed. All because she couldn't stop herself from ogling his hands. Dropping her face in her palms Chloe groaned in mortification. _What has gotten into me?_ She was acting like a freak. A freak who had a serious staring problem. Questions she never knew existed began popping up. A million different feelings swirled around her rattled brain, overwhelming her, confusing her. But there was one thought that was becoming dominant from all others.

She had just checked out Derek Souza. Checked him out hard.

And he caught her in the act!

She squeezed her eyes and groaned again, the urge to flush herself down the toilet suddenly sounding like a good solution to her situation. Even in her humiliation, she couldn't help seeing his arms and skin and hands behind her closed eyes. Her mortification quickly made way to a shaky righteousness.

_Well, why wouldn't I check him out? He's a nice-looking guy, once you get passed his intimidating demeanor. I mean, he's the type of guy that gets more attractive the more you know him. Any girl would've checked him out about a million times already in my position, right?_

_Right?_

Then, it finally clicked—the most obvious realization in the history of obvious realizations hit her like a shovel to the head.

_Oh, God! I...like Derek Souza. I'm attracted to Derek Souza!_

_For the love of...of...oh, hell! How did this happen? How could I not have seen it? _

Her reflection gawked at her, a look of horrified understanding staring back at her. All those times she jumped in his presence—her heart clenching or breaking when she met his gaze. Those times she watched him and thought it was out of curiosity, or anger, or concern—it wasn't. It was because she liked him. Liked him so much, she realized. She was already waist deep before she even knew she waded in.

_How could I have been so stupid? So freaking blind? Oh, God. W-W-What if he suspects how I feel? Crap, I'm so messed up right now even my inner-voice is stuttering. Okay, I need to stop panicking and pull it together. I'll just leave right now. Go straight to my car. _

Then she cursed herself when she remembered her keys and things were still in their study room. Taking a few deep breaths, she attempted to calm herself.

_It's okay. It's okay. I'll just go in there and tell him I'm not feeling well. It must've been something I ate. And I need to go home now. Simple as that._

Yanking the restroom door open, she marched towards the study room with, _I'm not feeling well. It must've been something I ate. I need to go home now, _replaying through her mind like an obsessive mantra.

When she entered she room, Derek's head jerked up. "Are you okay? I was just about to come find you," he said in a rush. He looked really worried and it made Chloe's heart flip, like it wanted to leap right out of her chest into his gorgeous hands.

She nodded stiffly and stated, "I'm not feeling well. It must've been something I ate. I need to go home now."

"Something you ate?" he asked, still looking adorably worried.

"Yes, I'm not feeling well. It must've been something I ate. And I need to go home now," she repeated robotically, gathering her books and papers.

"Okay," Derek said, gathering his things as well.

Chloe paused. "You don't have to leave on my account," she said, uncertainly. She just wanted to get far enough away from him to sort out her thoughts.

"Oh, I'm leaving," he assured her, grabbing his bag, then plucking her bag from her arms. "And I'm driving you home."

"What?" she squeaked. "B-B-But—"

"You shouldn't drive home when you're not feeling well, Chloe," he admonished. "What if you puke all over yourself and crash into a tree? No—" he shook his head, "—I'm taking you home."

"Derek, you really don't—"

"It's not up for discussion, Chloe," he rumbled, and she could tell by the stubborn set of his jaw he wasn't going to back down.

She had no choice but to let him usher her out of the room. What she really wanted to do was to sprint to her car and drive while screaming at the top of her lungs all the way home, but that wasn't going to happen. Squashing the urge to speed walk, she forced herself to move like someone who was feeling sick. Their walk was slow going, with frequent, anxious glances from Derek that made Chloe's insides twist, flustering her to the point of insanity. Crisp, autumn air swirled around them when they pushed past the main entrance doors, heading towards the parking lot.

"Um, so how are we going to do this?" she asked hesitantly. "Will we take your car or..."

"No, we'll take yours. Simon and I share a car and he has it at the moment," he said, pointing at Chloe's VW. "Is that your ride?"

Nodding, Chloe added, "But how will you get home? If we drive my car?"

"Well, there's this thing called a public transit system, which incorporates these vehicles called buses, and they can take you all over the city." He was smirking down at her.

She rolled her eyes at him exasperatedly. "I don't want you to go out of your way for me. I feel bad en—"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted brusquely. "Do you have your keys?"

She dug in her bag for her keys while he waited patiently in front of her, his hand already out to accept them. She dropped them in his palm, careful not to touch his skin. Unlocking her door, he shooed her into the passenger seat, closing the door for her. He was being so attentive that it was causing Chloe's already overwhelmed brain to spin even more.

After adjusting the driver's seat to the furthest setting, he squeezed—with some difficulty— into the seat, his knees touching the steering wheel. Chloe had to bite her lip to stifle the giggle in her throat. When he turned the car on, music blasted around them causing them both to jump in their seat, with a sharp "Jesus" coming from Derek.

"Sorry," Chloe mumbled, as she quickly turned down the volume. "I don't normally listen to my music this loud, but I love this song..." Her voice trailed off as she sensed another urge to giggle at how uncomfortable he looked.

"No big deal. Just about gave me a heart attack is all," he replied sarcastically.

"Aw, poor baby," Chloe whispered under her breath.

"I heard that," he muttered. "Now, how do I get to your house?"

Chloe went over the directions as Derek pulled out of the parking lot. They lapsed into silence and Chloe couldn't resist stealing glances at him from under her lashes. He looked so funny all scrunched up in her car and she couldn't help giggling. Of course, she gazed a bit longer than necessary.

"What?" he asked, looking over at her.

Chloe blushed and managed to grit out, "Nothing."

"It's not nothing," he said, looking at her expectantly. "Something made you laugh. What was it?"

"It's just—you're so big, you look like you're driving a bumper car," she remarked, unable to stop laughing now.

"Well, I feel like I'm driving one," he grumbled. "I think this car was made for a hobbit." He glanced over at her, giving her a sly look. "Of course, when you're in this car, it looks like you're driving a semi." He smiled at that like it was hilarious.

Chloe was about to retort that was absolutely not true, but her voice dropped dead when he turned, flashing his grin at her. All of a sudden, it was like Chloe could only see in tunnel vision. And at the end of that tunnel was Derek's smile. Truly a rare sighting—she had never seen him smile fully before. It was crooked and beautiful and Chloe's brain immediately went on vacation, while her entire body blushed from head to toe.

His smiling face was quickly replaced with a serious expression. "Chloe? Are you okay? You're looking kind of flushed again." Reaching out, he placed the back of his fingers against her temple and Chloe assumed he was checking her temperature. At least...she would've assumed that if her brain was working properly. Instead, she gasped at the jolt of his touch.

_He's touching me. He's touching me with his perfect hand!_

His hand jerked back and he hastily cleared his throat, looking almost guilty. He murmured something under his breath that sounded like an apology.

"I-I'm fine. It's just my stomach. It's..." _...overwhelmed with nerves...likes your Christmas smell...hosting a butterfly convention... _"...upset," Chloe finished weakly. "My building is at the end of the next block," she said quietly, pointing down the street.

Clearing his throat again, he asked, "So, where should I park? It looks like your building has a garage."

"Um, you can park on the street. I'll park it in the garage later," then added hastily, "when I'm feeling better, of course."

"No, we're parking it in the garage," Derek insisted.

"It's okay, Derek. The street's just fine. I'll have my dad move it later," Chloe said, gesturing at all the empty spaces across the street from her building.

"No, Chloe. What if you're crossing the street and—"

"—I puke all over myself and get run over? That's not going to happen. The street's fine, just—"

"We're parking in the garage," he stated stubbornly. "And I'm carrying your bag and walking you to your front door."

_What is this, the 1950s?_ She wanted to argue, but she knew it wouldn't make a bit of difference. And Chloe would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that the girly part of her squealed in absolute delight. Sighing loudly, Chloe clicked the garage door opener and told Derek where to park. The moment he pulled into her parking spot and turned off the ignition, the mood was instantly awkward. This felt like a date. Or at least it felt like the end of a date, as Derek grabbed both their bags and opened the door for her. With Derek next to her, Chloe guided them up the stairs to the lobby on slightly wobbly, nervous legs, then into the elevator, all without saying a word. She tried hard not to fidget, but it was impossible as they rode the elevator to her floor, in silence.

"This way," she murmured, when the elevator doors opened. The tension—at least in her mind—was so thick, Chloe was certainly feeling a little nauseous now as they walked down the hall. She stopped at her door.

"So, this is my door. That, uh, goes to my condo," she said anxiously, trying not to wince at how utterly dumb she sounded. "Thanks so much, for everything, Derek. It was very...nice," she finished lamely.

"Do you need help with your bag? I can carry it inside for you," he offered, looking hesitantly at her bag then to her.

She smiled at that. For someone who looked so large and tough, he was incredibly cute standing there. _Cute? I'm calling Derek Souza cute now? _She gulped, before saying in a slightly shrill voice, "No, no, thank you. I think I can manage. You've already helped me so much." She took her bag and her keys from him. "Are you sure you'll be okay finding you way home?" she asked, feeling uncertain. She still wanted to run into the safety of her home, but she also didn't want to him leave either.

"Yeah, it's no problem," he assured her. "Actually, I know exactly how to get home from here. My dad's office used to be around the corner from here before he moved closer downtown," he explained.

"Okay," Chloe answered softly. They both stood there for a moment—Derek rubbing the back of his neck and Chloe desperately trying to keep her arms and legs still.

"So, I hope you feel better, Chloe," he said finally, "and I'll see you later, hopefully tomorrow." He nodded once, before turning and retreating down the hall.

"Bye," she whispered quietly, knowing he wouldn't hear her. She opened her door, but still couldn't help watching him as he walked away, her eyes taking in the lines of his body—short, dark hair leading to broad shoulders which tapered down a narrow waist, framed by nice arms, then down long legs. Leaning her head against the door frame, she hummed contentedly to herself.

_Oh, I got it so bad, _she scolded herself lightly.

Sighing, she did the only thing she could do at the moment and that was to go inside, call Mila and tell her everything.

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	13. The Next Day

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading my story and sweet hug to those who reviewed. So sorry this took forever for me to update, but life has been seriously nuts. In fact, this chapter is much shorter than usual because it's actually half the chapter that I wanted to post, but it would've taken me a few more weeks to update and that's just WAY too long. So, unfortunately, this is more of a filler chapter and not the party - I had such high hopes to write it but it needs to be just right and I didn't want to rush it :'( Also, one reader by the profile name, EmJIndieBaby, has a fantabulous polyvore site that she has dedicated some of her awesomeness to A Rocky Road. Please check it out on her ff profile page or it's www(.)polyvore(.)cgi/profile?id=2021753 when you get a chance. So sweet...

A huge thank you to my betas who rock the house so much, it's scary. To the gorgeous Tweety4be, who beta'd this chapter so fast, it would probably be in Guinness Book of World Records if they had a beta award for that. Seriously, she rocks. And to the lovely Fanpire4000 who offered to beta the shit out of this chapter as an awesome backup, just so y'all can read it ASAP. Let's blow them a kiss, shall we?

Disclaimer: Don't own the Darkest Powers and I hope you enjoy...

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It took a few minutes for Chloe to untangle her brain enough to even call Mila initially. She just stood there, inside her condo, hand still on the knob of her front door. _Shock?_ Maybe it was shock that had her frozen on the spot, her mind jumbling with words and images all pertaining to Derek, who had suddenly became so attractive to her it left her breathless.

_Shock. _Yes, she was definitely in shock. And confused. _Really _confused. She needed to sort out her thoughts, feelings and...thoughts. _You already said thoughts, Chloe. Oh, hell. I'm talking to myself like I'm another person. Never a good sign._

Releasing the door knob Chloe wandered a bit aimlessly into her home, giving Melinda an automatic greeting before she became annoyed with herself and entered her bedroom. She called Mila who, thankfully, answered and in a babbling daze, Chloe rehashed the entire episode.

"So?" Chloe asked curiously, when she finished.

"I'm really not that surprised," Mila said slowly, like she just came to this revelation.

"Have I—have I been that obvious?" Chloe croaked, feeling nauseous with panic. _If Derek suspected..._

"No, it's just the way you talk about him," Mila replied. "The way you look when you talk about him, you don't really have _that_ look when you talk about anyone else."

"Th-That look?" Chloe asked, feeling suddenly aggravated with herself for being so oblivious to her own feelings.

"Yes," Mila said thoughtfully. "It's kind of a...softness around the eyes when you mention him."

"A softness?" Chloe repeated, feeling more uneasy by the second. "Do you think—do you think Derek's noticed my—my softness at all...about him?"

Mila snorted softly into the phone. "I can pretty much guarantee Derek hasn't noticed anything at all. Remember, he's a guy who's not a player. I think the only way he'd get a clue is if you pressed all that softness up in his face." Mila laughed heartily. Chloe, of course, blushed on cue. "There's pretty much three things Derek knows in this world and that's football, numbers and being a badass. A girl crushing on him—not so much." Mila assured.

"Really? You think so?" She couldn't hide how desperately she wanted to believe that.

"I'm positive," Mila soothed. "But what's so bad if he did know? I mean, don't you think he'd jump at the chance to be with you?"

"I—I don't know. Maybe if I was his type, I guess, whatever that is." Chloe replied hesitantly. The thought of Derek liking her back hadn't even occurred to her.

"Chloe, you're a pretty girl. That's every guy's type." Mila stated plainly.

It was Chloe's turn to snort. "I think you see me in friend's-colored glasses, Mila," Chloe said smiling at how blindly loyal her friend was. "Derek's type could be some amazon goddess, with big hair and bigger boobs—pretty much the exact opposite of what I am."

"Well, Chloe, there's only one way to find out now, isn't there?" Mila hinted. "I think it's time to bust out those tight-ass jeans for the party."

Chloe gulped. "I, um, I really...Are you—" she started. "But they're so tight!"

"I know! Boys are so simple. Wrap yourself in something tight and voila—we'll see if you're his type real fast." Mila stated triumphantly, then added a little less sure. "At least, that's what my big sister says anyway."

"Okay, but—it's just—but they're so tight!" Chloe repeated shrilly. The thought of strolling around in _public_ with those jeans made Chloe break out into a nervous sweat. And Derek seeing her in them...

"Don't worry, Chloe," Mila said in a calming voice, "You will not look like some slut with a bad make-over. You'll look pretty and hot—in a tasteful way. I promise. Anyway, I have to seriously think about what I'm going to wear too." And just like that, Mila wisely changed the subject, talking about lighter topics that eased Chloe's nerves and had her forgetting about her massive crush, even if it was just for a few minutes.

…...

Walking through school Friday morning, Chloe realized life wasn't much different now that she was aware of her feelings for Derek, than when she wandered through life clueless about them. The thought of seeing him still made her nervous, still made her jumpy and distracted—pretty much how it was before, now she just knew why she felt that way. And strangely, she was torn between wanting to see him and wanting to avoid him. _What's that about? God, crushes are confusing._

For a thrillingly, nauseous moment she thought she did see him between her second and third period class, his dark hair towering above the crowd of the other students and Chloe debated on bolting through the next door she saw before she bitched herself out and hazarded a glance in his direction. He wasn't there. And she wasn't sure if she felt more relieved or disappointed. _Yep. Whoever said liking someone was fun, needs to be punched in the face._

And so that's how she went through her day, eyes darting around desperate and scared to catch a glimpse of him, knowing that, inevitably, she was going to see him in History anyway. _Maybe I should take the control of the situation. _She was pretty sure he still spent his lunch in the library and she wondered for a crazy moment if she should swing by, maybe say a quick hello to him. The thought had her so anxious, she was gasping like she ran a mile. _Okay, I won't say hi, I'll just go in there and...what? Lurk between the bookshelves and stare at him? _She thought to herself sarcastically._ Maybe I can jump out and tell him I'm thinking about his hands ag__ain! Wouldn't want to mess with my track record at embarrassing the hell out of myself in front of him._

Chloe's conflicted mindset continued in this way for the next couple hours and with the combination of her anticipation at seeing Derek in class, she was jumping at the slightest noises. She just wanted the day over, so she could run away and hide under her covers in bed and watch bad TV until she passed out. That sounded like heaven.

"It sucks doesn't it?" Mila asked quietly, while walking Chloe to History. She had sweetly offered to accompany Chloe to class, knowing the internal freak-out Chloe was experiencing. "A big crush—it's like the guy just takes up residence in your mind and you can't get him out, no matter what you do."

Chloe nodded her understanding and looked at her friend with sympathy. She really did understand now; she had, of course, experienced crushes before, she even dated Brent Hendrickson last year, although briefly since the guy had the grabbiest hands, but nothing—none of those guys compared to this. This was a flurry of overwhelming feelings. It was disjointing, uncomfortable...exhilarating and Chloe felt completely lost in it.

_What do I do now?_

If she was one of those fearless, forward girls, she probably would've thrown caution to the wind and pursued Derek to the end of the world. But she wasn't. The thought of...coming on to him—had her so nervous she thought she might lose what little lunch she ate. And even if she decided to pursue him, which she _so _wasn't, how would she even do it? Grab a step ladder and try and kiss him? _Oh, my stomach..._Maybe attempt to tell him? She could only imagine what a disaster that would be considering her mouth had a tendency of going absolutely AWOL around the guy. And even if he managed to tell him her feelings, what would his reaction be? No matter how Chloe tried to see the situation at a different angle, she had a hard time believing he could feel the same. Derek was much too stoic, too hard and strong to experience something so trivial as a crush. She just couldn't see it happening. So, Chloe could only predict a rejection as the result of revealing her feelings.

_And how would he turn me down? Would he just scowl and blow me off? Or would he wear that blank expression while he told me, under no circumstances, did he feel the same way for me? Or worse, would look at me with pity—_

"Chloe, we're here," Mila whispered, as she stopped in front of Chloe's class. Mila quickly peeked inside the classroom. "He's not in there, yet." Giving Chloe an encouraging pat on the arm, she said, "Don't worry, everything will be fine. Okay? I gotta go. Tell me if anything happens?" Then, with a swift wave of goodbye, Mila hurried to her class before she was late.

Quickly making it into the room, Chloe took to her seat, trying to appear busy as she pulled things out of her bag, but soon she had nothing to do but glance compulsively at the door a few times a second. The wait was killing her, soon Derek would walk through that door...and then what? She'll blush and try and act like she hadn't obsessively thought about him as she tried to fall asleep last night or that he was the first thing she thought of when she woke up this morning.

She glanced at the door for the hundredth time, her apprehension growing as each second slowly ticked by, her heart now beating so hard she could feel it in her fingertips. _Mila was right, this so sucks!_

Then he strolled in, and in Chloe's crush-addled mind, it was like he was moving in slow motion—like in the those cheesy movies, all smooth and strong looking. _Oh, God. It's even worse today than it was yesterday! _It was like her entire body flushed at the sight of him. Holding her breath, she tried her best not to gawk but when the hell did he get so...so..._Ugh. I'm in so much trouble._

He stopped in front of her desk, looking at her with that concerned look on his face.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" he rumbled. "I was wor—wondering if you, you know, were feeling better." He seemed to fidget slightly as he spoke, his fingertips playing with the edge of her desk. Chloe's eyes zeroed in on them, almost hypnotized, as she watched them drag slowly over the smooth corner—

"Y-Yes! I'm fine, thank you," she answered hastily. She needed to focus! "It was very...sweet...considerate of you to drive me home yesterday. Thanks again. For that," she added awkwardly, craning her neck to meet his eyes. She struggled to keep her face casual and not have that goofy, dreamy look on her face Mila had been teasing about her wearing all day. "I hope you got home okay?"

He shrugged in a way that told Chloe it wasn't a big deal. "So, I was wondering if..." Stalling, he cleared his throat. "If you were still coming over on Saturday? I, uh..." His voice trailed off.

"Of course I am," Chloe said, hoping she dulled some of the excitement from her voice. "I'm looking forward to it and so are my friends. I hope it's okay that I can still bring a couple of people?"

Nodding, he added, "Of course. It'll be pretty mellow, so...Do you still remember where I live?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I do," she replied back, like she hadn't burned the memory of his house in her brain forever.

He opened his mouth to respond but just then Mr. Rosen entered the classroom, calling attention to the class and Derek moved over to his seat. The hour went by quickly, with Chloe stealing glances—all involuntary—at Derek for most of the class. For one ridiculously hopeful second, Chloe thought he may have glanced at her as well when she looked over at him as his eyes seemed to look quickly away, but in her current state of mind, she knew she couldn't entirely trust her observations as being objective. Thankfully, class was over and Chloe was more than a little worn out. All of this was incredibly draining and she was contemplating on transferring to an all girls school just to avoid all this drama. Shoving her books and papers in her bag, she watched with wistful disappointment as Derek left the classroom, sending her a side-long glance as a goodbye.

She let out a loud breath and ambled out into the hall, nearly jumping a foot when she felt a soft touch on her elbow. Her eyes darted upwards, locking onto...

"Derek?" she gasped, her heart beating so hard, it felt like it was making a serious attempt to escape through her throat and it wasn't just from surprise.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to give you my address since you sounded a little unsure when I asked." Pulling out a scrap of paper from his back pocket, he handed it to her. They stood there in silence for an awkward minute before Derek finally said, "I'm assuming you're heading to your drama class?"

His tone sounded like a dismissal and Chloe tried fight the sudden pang of hurt. "Oh, yeah," Chloe managed. "I should probably get going," she added with a weak smile and waved the paper he gave her. "Thanks for this." She turned, heading to the theater and it took her a couple seconds to realize Derek was walking next to her.

That hurt feeling instantly dissolved into pure, girlish delight and she couldn't help grinning when she asked, "Aren't you going to be late to your class?"

Returning her smile with a small one of his own, Derek replied, "Nah, it's my math class but it's more of an independent study since the curriculum is specifically designed for each student."

"Specifically designed for each student?" she repeated, glancing up at him. "So, what you're telling me is, you're so advanced in mathematics, that the school doesn't have a class high enough for you?" Chloe replied, smiling.

"Yep," he said dryly, "that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Wow, must be nice being such a smartypants," she teased, then blushed when she realized she was _attempting—_in her own sad, sad way—of flirting with him.

"Smartypants? Are we in kindergarten now?" Derek replied.

"No," Chloe sputtered in annoyed embarrassment. "Smartypants is just a nice way of saying...of saying—"

"That someone's a giant nerd," he finished, smiling widely now.

Chloe stared, his crooked smile stunning her stupid as she narrowly missed walking into the wall. "Y-Yes," she managed, "that's what I—exactly."

"Easy there," he said, steadying her, his hand warm against her shoulder blade. Chloe had barely resisted the urge to melt into his touch before he added, "you're bouncing around like a Mandelbrot fractal."

Chloe blinked. "A mandible-what?" To her surprise, she thought she saw his cheeks redden slightly.

"It's nothing. Just a math thing," he muttered, clearing his throat. "Isn't that your friend over there?" Derek nodded over at Mila, who was standing near the entrance of the theater, fiddling with her phone.

"Huh? Oh, yes," she uttered, still reeling from his reaction. By now, Mila had noticed them, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Okay, so I'll see tomorrow night then," he said quickly, then without another word, he turned and walked away.

Watching his retreating form, Chloe could still feel the warmth from his touch on her back. Mila sidled up next to her and sighed, "I must say, he really is nice to look at," she nudged Chloe gently and grinned, "especially from this angle." Chloe responded with a small smile. "Come on," Mila prompted, "let's find a seat so you can tell me everything."

Chloe followed her friend into the darkness of the theater, with one insistent thought bouncing around her head like Mandolin friction...or, whatever.

_Giant nerds are hot._

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	14. Party Time

A/N: Hey Y'all! I just wanted to send you guys a HUGE "I'm sorry" for taking so long on this chapter. Too much business from real life had me spinning a bit, some good, some not-so-good, and I won't bore you with the details, but needless to say, it's been hard to find time to write (or read, for that matter). So, I have some good news and bad news. First, the bad news: life has only gotten way busier. This next month I have a pretty big deadline that's quite a big deal in my life/future (very nervous) so I will be busier than usual. Which means, I won't have any time to write for the next 3-4 weeks :( But don't worry, when all this clears up, I should have much more time to write on a regular basis (real life will still kick my ass though, I'm sure). Okay, now the good news: this is my longest chapter yet. Almost 7000 words (!) and I hope that makes up for the long wait.

Also, I wanted to thank you guys for continuing to read my story and a smack on the ass for those who reviewed. Seriously, you guys warm my heart, even when life gets a little nutso, you guys never fail to put a big smile on my face. Life has been pretty awful to a lot of people in the world (makes my problems look like a walk in the park) and it's just nice to feel the love and I'm sending a ton out back to you. Thank you. I really hope you enjoy this chapter!

A huge thank you to my beautiful betas: Tweety4be and Fanpire4000 (who BTW, has an awesome Hunger Games fic going and if you haven't checked it out, I strongly recommend you do. So good!). Fanpire got this chapter and immediately beta'd it so I could post ASAP! So sweet. My ladies rock **any **house, **any **where!

Disclaimer: Don't own in Darkest Powers

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"_Oh, my God. Am I really doing this?"_

Chloe turned again in Ashley's full length mirror, eyes going straight to her jean-encased derriere. It looked very prominent in those jeans...very prominent, much more than Chloe remembered when she tried them on in the fitting room. Thankfully, she was wearing a slightly baggy sweater. Unthankfully, it came right above her hips, not covering what she wanted covered. The sweater was a compromise. Originally, Chloe had wanted...well, wanted to wear a long sweater that was actually a dress, and Mila and Ashley weren't having it. She was sure Jen would've been on her side, but Jen was currently at a cousin's wedding and wouldn't be joining them.

Yanking on the hem of the sweater for the hundredth time, Chloe was in enough stubborn denial that she was sure she would eventually stretch it. _Right?_

"Chloe, you have to stop pulling," Mila chastised, coming up beside Chloe. "The sweater's not going to lengthen, but it may warp or something, and that won't be any good." She squeezed Chloe's shoulder reassuringly. "Besides, you look so pretty tonight, but not like you tried too hard."

"Totally!" Ashley shouted from the bathroom. "And I'm so ready to party tonight," Ashley added loudly.

Mila gave Chloe a look, then whispered, "We'll have to keep an eye on Ash. She can get a little crazy in a party setting."

Chloe nodded, remembering what Mila had told her from previous experiences. One of the reasons the girls were staying over at Ashley's was because she had the latest curfew, but she was also considered the wild one of Mila's friends.

"You still don't mind being designated driver?" Mila asked.

"No, not in the least. I'm not much of a drinker," Chloe replied, then looking closely at her friend, she added, "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Mila answered quickly, then grinned. "Okay, a lot. And you?"

"Not really," Chloe smiled back, "more like terrified."

"Terrified?" Ashley repeated, sauntering into her room, dressed like she was going clubbing instead of a small party. "There will be no terror tonight. Tonight, we are going to have fun. We're going to drink some drinks, some without alcohol," Ashley said, looking gratefully at Chloe. "Maybe dance and talk to some cute boys. And tonight, we're going to be bold and not worry about anything stupid like consequences." She looked pointedly at Chloe and Mila. "Grab your keys, Chloe, 'cause tonight we are going to have fun even if it kills us!"

Chloe exchanged a look with Mila. _Dear Lord, help us._

…...

It was cool, crisp night as the girls folded themselves into Chloe's car and the excited, nervous energy bounced off them as they made their way. Rolling into Simon and Derek's neighborhood, Chloe's nerves had spiked from mildly terrified into this-is-crazy-maybe-we-should-turn-around-and-go-home terrified. In fact, she was so nervous, she could barely register the minutes from: parking her car, how tight her jeans were, walking up the driveway, how tight her jeans were, Ashley knocking on the front door, the blonde guy she had never seen before ushering them in, how tight her...

Curious, Chloe glanced around the entrance as her friends chatted with the stranger; she didn't see anyone about but she heard several voices down the hall.

"And you are?" a voice interrupted.

"Um, what?" Chloe jumped, realizing the guy was addressing her.

"Your name's Umwhat?" he teased, a goofy smile breaking out on his face.

"Sorry. I'm Chloe," she smiled back.

"Hmm...I like Umwhat better." He glanced around to Chloe's friends, looking a beat longer at Ashley, or rather, Ashley's short skirt. "I'm Peter," he said, waving his hand with a flourish, almost spilling the drink he was holding. "And I'm assuming you guys are friends with Simon?"

"Actually, Chloe here is friends with Derek," Mila offered.

He laughed, like that was a punchline to a joke, before he realized it wasn't and his expression turned into utter bewilderment. "Friends?" he choked out. "With Derek?"

Chloe would've probably giggled at how incredulous he looked if she wasn't feeling so anxious at the moment. He took a large gulp of his drink, like maybe the answer to this question lay at the bottom of his cup. And judging by the slight sway of his body, Chloe was pretty sure he was well on his way to getting completely smashed.

"How is that possible? I've been neighbors with Simon and Derek for a long time now and I'm barely friends with Derek," he said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure every time I come over to hang with Simon, Derek wants to kick my ass."

Chloe couldn't help smiling at that. _I can see that._

"I remember you," Mila suddenly exclaimed, with a snap of her fingers. "Peter, you were in our freshman class, right?"

"That's right," Ashley answered excitedly. "You were in the first half of the school year until..." She paused.

"Until I was apprehended for the possession of marijuana on school property," Peter said in a fake authoritarian voice. "Allegedly," he added in air quotes; he smiled winningly at them, oblivious to the awkward tension that had suddenly flared up.

"So, you lovely ladies look like you could use a drink," he offered, glancing over at Ashley's short skirt again. "If you'll follow me please."

Immediately, Chloe's anxiety spiked and her eyes shot towards Mila who, not surprisingly, looked like she was feeling the exact same way. As they entered the kitchen, Chloe's gaze darted around for a familiar hulking shape, but Derek wasn't there, just a few people Chloe recognized from school.

"So, we got plenty of beer," Peter explained, opening the stocked fridge, "or I can make you my very own special concoction that will surely put you in a party mood." He gestured to the assortment of alcohol and juices on the kitchen island.

"I'll definitely have one of those," Ashley piped in. "And so will this girl over here," she said, throwing her arm over a dubious looking Mila.

"And what will you be having, Umwhat?" Peter grinned at Chloe.

"I'll have a soda please," Chloe replied.

Peter's face fell.

"She's designated driver tonight," Mila clarified.

He looked at Chloe sympathetically while mumbling, "taking one for the team," as he handed her a can of coke.

A few moments later, each girl had a drink in her hand and Peter had wrangled Ashley into a conversation, with Mila and Chloe chatting amongst themselves.

Taking a sip of her drink, Mila grimaced slightly. "Whoa. This is really strong. I bet I could light it on fire," she whispered to Chloe. "Okay, let's go over the rules."

"Oh, right. The rules," Chloe repeated. Mila's older sister gave Mila a simple list of rules based on how to act around a guy you like at a party—and she was pretty adamant about it.

Mila scrunched her face in concentration as she tried to repeat her sister's wisdom verbatim. "We are to _never_ search the guy out and talk to him unless approximately three hours have passed at a party or unless he approaches us first."

"Right, so we don't look desperate..." Chloe prompted, "or something."

Nodding, Mila continued, "We are to _not_ place ourselves in a position where we are facing the guy head on at the party."

Confused, Chloe asked, "So does that mean we shouldn't be in the same room?"

"Uh, no. I think it means if we are in the same room we shouldn't be facing him directly. So, like, only our profile or the back of us should be in his line of sight," Mila explained, then grinned widely. "Or in your case, just the back of you should be in Derek's line of sight."

"Very funny," Chloe smiled, blushing a little. "What else?"

"Don't get too drunk, which won't be a problem for you, but..." Mila sniffed her drink. "But for me, I think I'm drunk from just smelling this." She took another tentative sip, then her eyes looked over Chloe's shoulder and widened. "Oh, God. It's Simon. Oh, shit! How do I look?"

"You look gorgeous, Mila," Chloe assured. Turning around, she saw Simon making his way through the kitchen, then his eyes rested on them and face instantly brightened.

"Oh, my God! He's coming over here," Mila whispered frantically. "Do I turn around? What was that rule again?"

"It's okay. We'll just chat with him for a couple minutes and see what happens," Chloe suggested in a calm voice, giving her friend an encouraging nudge.

"Yes, right. Just a chat. For a couple minutes," Mila mumbled to herself, her breathing becoming slightly erratic as Simon drew closer.

"Hey, Simon," Chloe greeted, hoping to give Mila a couple of minutes to recover.

"Hey, you two, glad you could make it." He settled in front of them. "I see you've already got drinks."

"Yeah, I'm driving tonight," Chloe said, raising her coke, "but Peter took care of Mila and our friend, Ashley."

Simon looked a little horrified by that bit of information. "Peter made you a drink? Do you want me to get you something else?" he asked Mila. "You don't have to drink that, you know."

Mila just stood there and gulped in response and Chloe immediately cut in, "Actually, Mila was just joking that she could light her drink on fire. Probably could burn off all the alcohol in it. Right, Mila?"

"Right," Mila breathlessly murmured, trying her best to look collected.

Simon grinned at that, his cuteness shining in all it's glory and Chloe could tell by Mila's blank expression that her brain just went down in a fiery blaze of glory. Even Chloe was a little speechless by the onslaught of Simon's looks and she didn't even like him in that way. _Seriously, his smile could be a superpower. _

"My drink is fine, Simon," Mila managed.

"You're sure?" He looked doubtful. "If you change your mind, let me know, okay?"

"Okay," Mila replied, smiling bravely up at Simon.

He smiled back and there seemed to a little shyness at the edge of his features. Chloe scrutinized him curiously. _Yes, he definitely seems a little shy. Maybe nervous? _Feeling hopeful for Mila, those good feelings promptly took a nose-dive when she saw Simon's girlfriend with her friends, eyeing them with hostile suspicion from across the kitchen.

_Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about her._

At that moment, Tori, looking simultaneously stunning and terrifying, stalked into the kitchen, brushing roughly against Simon's girlfriend, causing her to stumble into her friends.

"Oops, so sorry," Tori beamed evilly. "Didn't see you there." The girls glared murderously after her, but none of them seemed eager to confront Tori, whether it be because she was Simon's family or she was just plain scary. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Chloe.

"Well, well," Tori drawled, sauntering over towards Chloe. "Got an invite, did you?"

Nodding in response, Chloe asked, "So, I take it you're not going over to Brady's party tonight?"

"Ugh...please, just hearing his name makes me want give myself a lobotomy," Tori replied, rolling her eyes dramatically. "And I know you already know the answer to that question. It's a big _hell no. I _will not be hauling my ass to that din of STDs tonight."

Chloe giggled at that, then hearing Simon's booming laugh, they both turned, regarding Simon and Mila who were joking with each other. Mila looked more like her usual self—bubbly and sweet—than she did a few minutes ago.

Tori eyed them closely. "I must say, Chloe, your friend would be a huge step up from that _thing_ Simon's currently dating." They glanced over at Simon's girlfriend and her friends, who were still shooting daggers their way. Tori blew them a kiss, laughing loudly when the girls huffed and flounced away.

"Not a fan?" Chloe asked.

"Most of his past girlfriends are about as lovable as a rabid dog, but that one..." Tori added, narrowing her eyes, "is one grade A bitch. Can't wait until he gets rid of her."

_I couldn't agree more, _Chloe thought as she snuck a glimpse of Mila and Simon smiling at each other.

"So, I'm assuming you just got here?" Tori asked, scrutinizing Chloe, one eyebrow raised. "You haven't seen our favorite, anti-social giant yet, have you?"

"What? You mean Derek? Nope. Uh, nope. I haven't seen him," Chloe stated, trying to sound casual but judging Tori's slow smile, Chloe knew she wasn't fooling anyone, so she tried a different tactic. "Um, is Liz here tonight?"

Tori snorted. "Yep, she's around here somewhere. She's probably making the rounds, being the good Samaritan and saving people from awkward conversations or something like that." Then Tori grinned as she peered past Chloe's head, before saying, "Speaking of awkward..."

A loud round of coughing burst behind Chloe and her heart leapt when she turned to see Derek, who was slightly hunched over, fist to his mouth, coughing like he was choking.

"Take a deep breath from the nose," Tori suggested loudly, a smirk playing on her lips.

Derek shot her a glare as he managed to regulate his breathing. Looking a little flushed from all the coughing, Chloe assumed, he made his way over to them. She attempted one last tug on her sweater as she mentally prepared herself for his presence.

"You okay?" she asked, peering up at him as he stood front of her.

"Yeah, yeah," he breathed out, gesturing to his throat. "My drink—it just went down the wrong pipe."

"That's what happens when you suddenly inhale liquid," Tori put in.

He slid another glower her way. "Do you have to be in this specific spot, Tori?"

An innocent expression spread across her face. "What? I'm just chatting with Chloe here," she said, flinging an arm over Chloe's shoulder. "'Cause we're friends." Attempting to prove her point, she jostled Chloe a bit in a one-armed hug. "See?"

He gave her dry, disbelieving look. "I'm sure you can find another _friend_ to torture somewhere else," he rumbled, staring her down with a scowl that would've made a grown man cry.

Tori gave a loud sigh. "Fine, whatever. I know when I'm not wanted," she retorted, which earned a snort from Derek. "Have fun," she sang, throwing a wink in Chloe's direction and an evil smirk at Derek's, before wandering away.

"She wasn't rude to you, was she?" Derek asked.

Chloe shook her head. "No. Actually, we get along just fine." She looked up at his skeptical face. _His extremely nice, angular, skeptical face which is so—_

"I'm relieved to see you're not drinking one of Peter's drinks," Derek said, interrupting her thoughts as he looked down at the coke Chloe was holding. "People who do have a tendency to embarrass themselves, then spend the night hunched over a toilet."

Chloe stifled a giggle. "Do you speak from experience?"

"Thankfully, no," he smiled, "but Simon does." He waved his beer. "I'll probably nurse a couple of these tonight, but I'm really not much of a drinker."

"Me neither," Chloe answered. "So, this seems like a nice mellow party? I'm sure you're relieved." He nodded and they continued to chat like that for a bit, it was a little awkward and Chloe's voice cracked a few times with nervousness but she managed to not say anything horrifically humiliating, so that was a plus.

A few times, Chloe peered over at Simon and Mila who were still engaged in what now looked like a deep conversation. She smiled to herself.

"I predict drama is going to go down tonight. With Simon," Derek stated, following Chloe's gaze to his brother and Mila.

"You mean, with him and his girlfriend?"

Nodding, Derek glanced at them again. "It's always something with her. Always some problem. I think Simon's getting tired of it."

Chloe was liking this new information. "Tori says she's a grade A bitch."

A quiet chuckle rumbled in his chest and Chloe's heart sang from the sound. "Yeah, you could definitely describe her as that." A smile broke out on his face. "Definitely not a nice girl." He gazed down at Chloe and there was a softness around his eyes that had her blushing from her cheeks down to her toes. And there was something else. A heavy feeling that weighted within her ribs. Warm and—

"Derek, my main man!" Peter shouted, walking over to them with his hand raised, ready for a high-five. Derek just stood there, his face inscrutable. "That's alright, bro," Peter said, lowering his hand, still looking cheerful. He reached over and snagged an unsuspecting Simon in a headlock, thereby ending the conversation Mila was having with him.

"Hey, man, are we going to party or what?" Peter laughed, as Simon shoved him off.

Peter earned an exasperated look from Simon and scowl from Derek. "Just kidding," he grinned. By then, several people came to refill their drinks, mingling about and Chloe was drawn into a conversation with a few people she shared classes with. She was finally able to wiggle out of the conversation, but by the time she did, Derek was gone.

Trying to stave off disappointment, she reminded herself that there would plenty of opportunities to talk to him again. Plus, she needed to know how everything went with Mila and Simon. A few minutes later, Chloe and Mila, with Ashley's help, had dissected every second of the conversations they had with the boys, which was fun in itself and they began to relax and have a good time. Music blared, people got tipsy and danced around and time went by quickly. Chloe chatted with Liz and Tori, joked with Ashley, and giggled over boys with Mila. However, Chloe didn't talk with Derek again. She was trying to follow the rules and have him approach her, and a few times he seemed to be trying to. A couple times she caught his eye and he made his way over to her, only to be intercepted once by Simon and another time by a very drunk Peter. Once, he even plopped down next to her on a large couch, his mouth open to say something but a loud crash in the next room had him cursing and excusing himself to see what is was.

All of this would have been fine, but after a couple of hours, time suddenly seemed to be working against her. Ashley, with the help of a couple of Peter's drinks, was soon making her way to becoming completely shitfaced. Mila expressed her worry that Ashley was a hairbreadth away from kicking off her heels and dancing on the coffee table.

"I've been through this before," Mila murmured to Chloe. "The last time we went to a party, Ashley got so wasted, she wore a bird feeder on her head and wouldn't stop singing Maria Carey songs. Badly." Mila rolled her eyes. "Luckily, we were at her cousin's party. No one from school was there. Thank God for small miracles."

"Did she just get another drink?" Chloe asked, looking at Ashley's full cup. Mila was holding Ashley's drink as Ashley swayed to the music, her eyes slightly glassy, arms swinging to their own rhythm.

"No," Mila smiled. "I gave her a mixture of juices and some 7-up thrown in there. I don't think she's noticed yet."

"Nice," Chloe grinned, then whispered, "I'll be right back. Bathroom."

Really, Chloe didn't need the bathroom, she just needed a second to be alone and emotionally regroup and maybe "run into Derek". Taking the roundabout way to the restroom, Chloe was hoping she'd spot him, but she didn't. She was even hoping there might be a line to the bathroom and maybe he'd be waiting in it or maybe she'd be waiting for the bathroom and the door would open and it would be him or maybe—

_...or maybe I'll drive myself crazy at the end of the night with all my maybes!_

Sighing in frustration, she stomped into the restroom and stared at her reflection. Her makeup still looked fresh, and she had to admit she looked good. Mila had done a fantastic job on her makeup—it was subtle and pretty—she just wished it wasn't wasted on this night. She didn't have many expectations for tonight but she did expect to have at least one long conversation with Derek. She looked at her reflection again, this time with determination.

_Stop it! Stop being negative. Tonight's not over. It's not over until we physically leave this house, so stop it._

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out of the restroom only to hear hushed angry voices.

"I can't believe it. You're actually going to that douche's party?"

_A guy's voice. _

"Simon, don't be like that," a girl's voice whined. "There's a guy Britney likes and he'll there and she really wants to go."

Chloe stepped closer, pressing herself against the wall. _That's Simon's girlfriend._

"Then let her. That doesn't mean you have to go," he answered, his voice tight.

"But I promised her I'd go with her," she replied, simpering.

"You know how I feel about Brady, don't you? You know I fucking can't stand the guy, right?"

"Simon, it's the biggest party of the year so far. All my friends will be there. You can't expect me—"

"I expect you to stay at your own boyfriend's party," he said with exasperation. "Which is me, by the way, in case you forgot."

"Oh, really," she snapped, the simpering tone gone now replaced with a sneer. "With all the girls drooling all over you, I'm surprised you remember that."

"What are you talking about?" Simon retorted, his voice angry now.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I can see all those girls just waiting to get you alone, Simon. Especially, that one—Michelle...Mila, or whatever."

"Mila? She talked to me once tonight. Once. And she's been only nice and appropriate with me."

"Oh, is that what that is? Nice and appropriate," the simpering was back but with a sarcastic twist. "It's just a matter of time until one of those sluts makes a move and you'll be—"

"What the hell are you accusing me of?" Simon demanded. "Of _maybe_ cheating on you in the future?" His voice rose, cracking with anger. "I may have dated a lot of girls but I have never messed around with anyone behind their back. Have you _ever_ heard a rumor about me cheating on anyone?"

"No, but—"

"That's right! No, you haven't," he seethed. "I can't believe it..." He stopped, and Chloe heard him loudly exhale. "You know what, just go. Just...whatever."

The sound of footsteps coming towards her had Chloe hightailing it in the opposite direction. This was big news, news that she needed to tell Mila right away. Speedwalking back to where her friends were, Chloe smacked right into Tori, almost knocking them both down.

"Whoa!" Tori stumbled, grabbing Chloe around the shoulder, trying to keep them both upright.

"Tori, God, I'm so sorry," Chloe gasped.

Letting Chloe go, Tori straightened herself out. "Jesus. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry," Chloe repeated, "it's just..." Her voice halted when she saw the mischievous smile spreading over Tori's face. "What?"

"Actually, I was looking for you."

Chloe pulled a strand of hair out of her mouth. "Really?" she asked warily.

"Derek wanted me to tell you he's on the back porch."

"Oh? Okay." Immediately, Chloe's heart jumped at that information and she squeaked, "Where's that?"

Tori's smile widened with glee. "This way. C'mon, I'll show you." Grabbing Chloe's arm, she dragged her to the kitchen and pointed to a door. "Right over there."

Swallowing hard, Chloe just stood there, staring at the door. Tori nudged her. "The door's not going to bite, you know."

"I—sorry," Chloe mumbled.

"You'll be fine," Tori said, still smiling but this time with encouragement. "I gotta go. There's a cute boy that I'm determined to kiss tonight." She gave Chloe a wink and strolled away.

Taking a few deep breaths, Chloe approached the door. _Just act natural. Normal. You know, just be...not a freak. And for God's sake don't even look at his hands!_

She reached for the doorknob—heart pounding—and turned it, walking outside into the cool night, her breath steaming in front of her. It was a small porch, lit brightly by the light pouring through the open door and Chloe's eyes rested on Derek, sitting on a large deck chair.

"Hey," she murmured, closing the door behind her. Instantly, it was dark, the only light source was the soft glow of a curtained window from the house.

"Hey," he repeated back. "Just had to get out of the house. Get some fresh air."

"Yeah, it's pretty stuffy in there." She stepped further onto the porch, her eyes taking in the outline of his face and shoulders from the soft light. "Winter's coming. The nights are getting chillier."

"Are you cold?" Derek asked, shifting in his seat to get up. "I can get you—"

"No, no, I'm fine, Derek," she assured. "It feels good to be out here. Plus, I'm wearing a sweater and..." _And the tightest jeans ever made. _She pulled at the hem of her sweater.

Derek mumbled something under his breath.

Chloe moved over to a chair across from him and perched herself on the armrest. "So, you were right about the drama tonight."

He looked puzzled for a moment, then understanding spread over his face. "Simon."

Nodding, Chloe told him the argument that she overheard.

"She's a pain in the ass. I think Simon will cut her loose in a few days," Derek replied.

"Well, I think a lot of girls will be happy with that information," Chloe reasoned, then seeing a strange look cross Derek's face, she quickly added, "but I'm definitely not one of them. Uh, not even a little bit. I mean, at all." Immediately, she chastised herself, feeling panicked that she may have been a little too obvious about her feelings for him.

An awkward silence followed and Chloe was trying desperately to think of something to say to fill it, before Derek loudly cleared his throat.

"So, I...I wanted to..." he started, then stopped, clearing his throat again. "I wanted to say something...about that conversation we had in the library."

"In the library?" Chloe asked, her heart skipping at his serious tone.

"Yeah, you know, after the football game accident." Staring at her, he licked his lips anxiously. "About what I said...about your mother."

"Oh." Chloe's heart constricted at the painful memory. "Y-Yes?"

"I just..." Pausing, Derek lowered his head, swearing at himself. "I wanted to explain myself. Explain why I reacted so badly."

Chloe gulped and shifted on the armrest.

"I...I..." Derek seemed to physically struggle with the words, like they were literally fighting to stay inside him. He tried again. "It's...that—"

"Derek, are you trying to apologize to me?" Chloe asked gently.

He nodded, eyes looking pained.

"Then I accept your apology," she said simply, smiling softly.

"It..." He shook his head. "It's not just about an apology, Chloe. Even though it's obvious I still owe you one. It's just..." He ran his hand roughly through his hair. "I want you to understand why, I guess." His eyes locked desperately onto hers. "It's about my past." He took a deep breath. "It's not..." He seemed to struggle again, and Chloe sat there, feeling helpless, the look on his face breaking her heart.

After a couple of long minutes, Derek still hadn't managed to continue and Chloe couldn't take it anymore.

"Derek," she prompted quietly, "you don't have to tell me."

He stared at her. "No, I want to. It's just that—I..."

There was another pause. "How about you tell me later," she offered softly, "when you feel more comfortable." Without thinking, she reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, then blushed when she realized what she had just done. "I—I—" she stammered helplessly, pulling her hand away but Derek's tightened around her's, not letting her go. Her eyes flicked to his face and he was...looking at her in a strange way. "Derek, I—"

The door suddenly burst open, light spilling outside along with a staggering Peter. He swayed upright, blood-shot eyes darting to Chloe and Derek, then to their clasped hands.

"Ho hooo, am I interrupting something?" he slurred suggestively, eyebrows waggling.

Chloe tugged her hand out of Derek's and sprang to her feet, feeling self-conscious and annoyed.

"Yeah, actually, you are, Peter," Derek growled, gesturing at the door. "Now turn around and get your ass back inside."

"Not a problem, my man," Peter drawled. "I totally understand completely. You need some alone time with the pretty girl, not that I blame you. In fact, I'm trying to hook up with her friend and I—"

"Peter!" Derek snapped.

"Right, I'm getting out of your hair now," Peter declared, spinning on the spot but, not surprisingly, his drunk self lost his balance and stumbled backwards into Chloe. They both lurched, with Peter grappling and Chloe trying fruitlessly to regain her balance. She hit the porch railing with her hip and with Peter's combined momentum, her head slammed against a vertical beam from the porch with a crack. Pain exploded in the back of Chloe's skull and she cried out, now disoriented and falling quickly to the floor. Strong hands grabbed her before she did, hauling her up and into a sitting position.

Clutching at her head and wincing in pain, Chloe peeked her eyes open and found herself just a few inches from Derek's worried face.

"Are you okay? Did you hit your head? It looked like you hit your head," he said in a rush, his hands gripping her shoulders.

And that's when Chloe noticed.

Noticed where she was sitting.

_Oh, my. Oh, my...I'm. I'm. I'm sitting. On Derek Souza's. Lap._

_I'msittingonDerekSouza'slap!_

He was so warm and so big and so, so close. _So close. _She could see how thick the dark fringes of his eyelashes were, and how green his eyes appeared, even in the dark, and how white his teeth gleamed as he continued talking to her in that concerned voice...

"Huh? What?" Chloe managed stupidly.

"Jesus, Chloe. Are you okay?" Peter nearly shouted, which was not making her head feel any better. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I just—"

"You don't know what happened?" Derek nearly barked. "What happened was your drunk ass nearly gave her goddamn concussion. That's what happened!"

"I know. God, I'm so sorry," Peter said, his arms gesticulating wildly, swinging a little too close to Chloe's liking.

"For fuck's sake, Peter!" Derek said, waving his long arm protectively in front of Chloe. "Stop flinging your hands around like a freaking crazy person. Are you trying to knock her teeth out too?"

Peter clamped his arms to his side. "Right. Sorry." Then he staggered closer. "Here, let me—"

"What? Are you nuts?" Derek retorted, his hand now ready to push Peter away if he needed. All this movement had Chloe jostling on Derek's lap very pleasantly. _Very pleasantly_.

"Just go inside, Peter," Derek said, in a more controlled voice. "I'll take care of it."

Peter looked guiltily at Chloe and she couldn't help feel a little sorry for him. "I'm okay, Peter." His face was doubtful. "Really, my head doesn't hurt that much," she lied. Nodding once, Peter turned and teetered back inside.

_I'm alone with Derek. And I'm sitting on his lap. And I'm freaking out._

"Where did you hurt yourself?" Derek asked, his hands running over her head, checking for any injuries.

Chloe could barely register the simple question with him touching her. "Uh, right here," she whispered, her hand grazing the bump that had already formed on the back of her head. His fingers gently examined the area.

"Well, you're not bleeding, but there is a lump forming." He gently rubbed the area, his hands—_his gorgeous hands—_were making her feel both flustered and relaxed. "Is there any other place that hurts?" he asked, lightly grasping her chin, turning her face to see if the rest of her head was okay.

"Uh-uh," Chloe breathed out, her heart now thumping hard against her ribs. She was watching his eyes as they scanned every detail of her face with medical precision. Then his gaze gradually changed. It slowed, moving almost lazily over her features until it rested on her mouth.

He was staring...

Staring at her lips, his eyes blinking slowly, looking lost in thought. Unconsciously, Chloe's lips parted and Derek's expression turned almost pained as he continued to stare. Seconds seemed to lengthen as they remained watching each other. His smell—his yummy, spicy smell swirled around her. He was drifting closer to her, Chloe was sure of it, and she leaned into him, waiting for him to meet her as all thoughts flew right out of her head. The world seemed to blur around them, like they were the only two people that existed in this moment, as Chloe felt his fingertips skim the back of her neck and his warm breath puffed across her mouth. _So close now._

Then he kissed her.

It wasn't so much a traditional kiss, more of a brushing of his lips against hers, but her body erupted in shivers. He came back in again, but this time with a little more pressure and with a distinct soft _smack _of a kiss, while his hand laced through her hair, cradling her head. The tiny part of Chloe's brain that was still working, wondered how someone so large and intimidating could have such soft lips and such an amazing, tender touch. Her hands looped around his neck as they lingered together—their mouths meeting in a seamless series of slow, gentle pecks. And she thought she may have died and gone to heaven, because nothing feels this good.

And nothing felt like _it_.

She felt like floating and melting, all at the same time, every part of her heating up, flushing. She wondered how someone could have so much power over her as he continued to kiss her like it was the last thing he'd ever do—ever wanted to do.

And she didn't want it to stop.

His large, perfect hand hooked behind both her knees and gathered her close, her body molding into his. He was warmer this way—solid and angled—pressed against her, slowly kissing her. Her heart was pounding now but she could feel that his was too, and she smiled to herself.

Then his lips parted and the tip of his tongue grazed her upper lip. Chloe wasn't certain, but she was pretty sure she made some weird, squeaky sound. She answered him by parting her own lips and tentatively sliding her tongue against his. Derek groaned and embraced her tighter. The mood changed instantly. His mouth moved over hers firmly, hard, with an intensity that left her breathless. This wasn't the soft, languid kisses he laid on her moments ago. This was different—hot and demanding—and Chloe could only hang on for dear life as he kissed her so thoroughly, it had her toes curling in her boots.

Gasping, Chloe clung to his shoulders, feeling like she may dissolve into a puddle at his feet as his hand angled her head to deepen his kiss. His mouth was unbelievably silky and warm. She felt drugged, disoriented, and her body tingled with an unfamiliar feeling. An overwhelming feeling.

She kissed him back with equal desperation, pulling and gripping at his shirt. _More_, that's what she wanted. If she was aware of herself in that moment, she would've been surprised at her behavior. This wasn't like her. They haven't even been on a first date yet and here she was making out with him like some out-of-control nympho.

But she had no intention of stopping.

A moan rose in Chloe's throat as their kisses became even more frantic. One of Derek's hands gripped her thigh, then dragged upwards passed her hip, curling around her rear. He growled, then squeezed, and Chloe could only whimper helplessly against him. If it was anyone else besides Derek groping her, she probably would've jumped up and smacked them, maybe even threatened to mace them. But _this_ was Derek Souza, and Chloe would've let him throw her off a bridge at this point.

They were both breathing hard now, mouths still clashing and tasting. She felt his other hand trailing downwards, slipping under her sweater and her back arched when she felt the feathery touch of his fingertips on her spine. This was a good idea—hands touching bare skin—a really good idea, so she snaked a hand underneath his shirt, sliding over hot, smooth skin. He was...trembling—shaking like a leaf, but Chloe was too, she realized. And she also realized that a trembling Derek seemed unbearably vulnerable to her and a vulnerable Derek was so utterly...

_Hot._

A sound vibrated from his throat; he was mumbling against her mouth.

"What?" she gasped, pulling away momentarily.

"Chloe..." he whispered, his breath hot against her lips. She felt his hand sweep down behind her thigh, then back up to the curve of her rear again. "Shit. I—you look..." His hand tightened around the softness of her and he murmured a breathless noise that had her insides fluttering. She snaked another hand up his shirt, her fingertips skimming the strong, smooth sides of his torso, as he pulled her into another kiss. They were both moaning and sighing, uncaring and unaware of the noise they were making—completely consumed by each other. The hand on Chloe's back drifted up along her spine, slipping underneath the thick strap of her bra, caressing, and if Chloe could have fainted from the overwhelming sensations, she would've been passed out cold already. Slowly, his hand moved, tracing the path of her bra, migrating forward, grazing past her ribs, moving closer to her—

"Holy—What!"

Both of them jumped, breaking away from each other, squinting at the sudden brightness of the open door. There, Mila and Simon stood frozen, their jaws gaping, looking almost comical in their stunned expressions.

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't," Mila stammered. "Peter, he said—you hurt..your head. I—" Her eyes looked like they'd pop right out of their sockets. "I—I—we didn't mean to—"

Next to her, Simon's startled face broke out into a slow grin. He hooked a hand around Mila's arm and dragged her back inside the house. "Sorry about that," he said smoothly, "we'll just head back inside. Leave you guys to...whatever you were doing." Still smiling, Simon pulled Mila further inside, closing the door behind them and the porch was enveloped in darkness again.

Chloe turned to face Derek but the sight of him had her stomach dropping. He looked troubled, almost horrified.

"Derek?" she murmured and reached for him.

He jumped up causing her to tumble off his lap. Quickly, he caught her, helping her to her feet, then yanked his hands away, like she had burnt them. She peered up at him confused and feeling the first stirrings of concern.

"Derek—"

"Chloe, I—I never...I didn't mean to just—" His voice stalled and he was looking so remorseful, almost panicked. Her heart took a dive to the pit of her stomach. "I should never have..."

_Regret. He looks like he's regretting this. Regretting me..._

Desperately, he looked at her, like he was willing her to understand. "I have to go. I'm sorry," he said and hurriedly ran down the stairs of the porch, away from the house, the night swallowing him up almost instantaneously. Chloe just stood there, shocked and confused—disappointment and heartache closing around her. There was only one coherent thought—a question she asked herself over and over as she stood outside, hugging herself, in the cool night air...

_Why did he run away from me?_

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	15. The Aftermath

A/N: Can I just apologize a thousand times? I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. Real life has been a real pain in the ass and writer's block wasn't very nice either. Anyway, life really hasn't eased up at all. In fact, I've neglected another deadline to finish this chapter and I really need get back and work non-stop for the next month to finish it (the deadline). So, I'm afraid chapter 16 will take awhile for me to post. Again, I'm so SORRY! But I will never, ever give up on this story, so please don't worry about that I will. And thank you guys for hanging in there AND a special, sloppy kiss to those who reviewed last chapter. So sweet! I feel so lucky to have you guys take time to not only read but to leave me what you think. *sniffling with love*

To my betas...Fanpire4000 and Tweety4be: Seriously, I love my girls! They're beautiful, supportive and really hard-workers when it comes to beta-ing (and everything else). I know, I'm kind of sappy but I just adore them. I sent this story out with no warning to Tweets, and gave her no time since I wanted to post this ASAP and she got back to me right away (AND there's a pretty significant time difference!). So awesome! So, a huge thank you to both of them. They've really helped me with this story!

ALSO! I just completed my first Chlerek fanart on Deviantart! Squeeeeeeee...You can check it out at: madamemouse(.)deviant(.)com . Holy hell! I think I sweated a pound of, well, sweat trying to get it all finished on that motherscratching Photoshop. It was crazy! I hope you enjoy the artwork and the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own Derek or Chloe or Simon or Tori and etc.

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It was an emergency.

Enough of an emergency that had Chloe, Jen and a very hung-over Ashley sequestered in Mila's room on Sunday afternoon.

There was much to discuss. The positives: Mila and Simon finally talking and maybe, flirting a bit. The neutrals: how drunk Ashley got and reminding her, much to her chagrin, how she tried to perform her old tap-dancing routine from when she was eight. The negatives: Chloe kissing Derek—which was a _huge _positive, until he fled like a pack of wolves were snapping at his heels.

Chloe sighed to herself. She really didn't want to talk about it; she just wanted to crawl in a hole and stay there for a very long time. The feelings of humiliation and confusion were just too fresh. Talking about how Simon had affectionately squeezed Mila's elbow as they left the party last night—shortly after Chloe came back inside the house—seemed much more preferable.

"So, was it a quick kind of squeeze or more of a lingering touch?" Jen asked Mila excitedly.

"Um, I'm not sure," Mila said, grinning like a little kid. "Kind of both, I guess. I don't know. I was just so overwhelmed and surprised...by actually talking to him..."

"I would say it was more lingering," Chloe piped in, trying to appear cheerful. "It was definitely a flirty touch. Don't you think, Ashley?"

A groan was Ashley's only response, as she cradled her head in the crook of her elbow.

"Well, I thought it was a very sweet gesture," Chloe added. "And I'm sure if Ashley could talk right now, she would agree."

"I think you mean, if she could remember," Jen teased.

"My brain hurts," Ashley moaned.

"Well, it should," Mila snorted. "You killed a lot of brain cells last night." Ashley groaned again.

"So, what happened with you, Chloe?" Jen asked. "Anything good?"

Chloe glanced at a sympathetic Mila before swallowing hard and answering, "You could say that..." Gazing down at her tightly clasped hands, she managed, "I kissed Derek." Then, seeing Jen's excited expression, she quickly interjected, "And then he ran away."

Jen looked confused. "You guys kissed, then he...left?"

"No, he didn't just leave. He ran like his life depended on it," Chloe said, feeling horrible.

"What?" Jen turned to Mila. "I don't get it."

Shaking her head, Mila looked guiltily at Chloe. "From what Chloe told me, everything was going fine...until Simon and I interrupted." Mila's large brown eyes bore into Chloe's. "I'm so sorry. Peter told me there was an accident—that you hit your head. I wish...I shouldn't have checked on you."

"Hit your head?" Jen asked, appearing more confused than ever.

Chloe gave her a quick rundown, glossing over the racier details of their make out session. "And please don't feel bad, Mila. You did absolutely nothing wrong." Chloe reassured. Mila didn't look convinced. "When he kissed me—I thought...well, I thought he liked me. Then he just..." Shrugging, Chloe tried to bite down on the bitter disappointment. "I guess he doesn't," she finished quietly.

"I don't see how that's possible," Mila insisted. "I mean, maybe some typical guy will make a move on any warm body. But Derek?" She shook her head vehemently. "No way. I saw you guys kiss. It was like..." Mila's hands were raised as she tried to find the right words, while Chloe blushed furiously, recalling how Derek was about an inch from copping a serious feel before Mila and Simon's untimely arrival. "...it was like a movie kiss, like all you needed was a wind machine and some super awesome music. A guy doesn't kiss you like that, unless he means it. Especially someone like Derek."

Another groan emanated from Ashley as she peeked her eyes open, wincing in the process. "Actually, I heard a rumor from a semi-reliable source." All heads swiveled towards Ashley. "As you know, Peter and I chatted a bit at the party and he told me some interesting bit of news." Chloe's apprehension level skyrocketed as she waited for Ashley to explain herself. It was made ten times worse when Ashley's expression turned worried. "According to Peter, at Simon's party last year, Derek was in a similar situation as he was in this party."

"What?" Mila exclaimed, oblivious to Ashley's pained grimace.

Chloe's stomach dropped as Ashley's words sunk in. "But Derek told me he wasn't at the party until it was almost over."

"You're right. He missed most of it but there were a few stragglers, one of them being Joani Donahue." Seeing that Chloe hadn't recognized the name, Ashley explained, "She graduated last year. Total skank. Anyway, according to Peter, she got a little drunk and started asking about Derek. She hung around, probably assuming he was going to turn up eventually and the moment he did, she was on him like a leech."

"So, what...she kissed him? In front of a bunch of people?" Mila asked, her face skeptical. Jen looked just as unsure. Chloe, on the other hand, felt nauseous jealousy roil in her stomach, which she knew was ridiculous, she didn't even know him then but she couldn't stop her fists from clenching at her sides.

"Well, most people were gone and from what Peter said, the second Derek sat down, she pretty much jumped him. And him being a guy, or just being in shock, he just kind of let her," Ashley reasoned. "Apparently, once she got really aggressive, Derek came to his senses, probably realized who he was locking lips with and quickly untangled himself." Ashley looked regretfully at Chloe. "There's a good chance Peter got it all wrong, though." But the expression on Ashley's face suggested she believed what she was told.

"I don't believe it," Mila declared angrily. "How come we're hearing about this now? This should have been all over the school the next day." She shook her head, her long, dark hair waving wildly. "Nope. No way!"

Jen scrunched her face in concentration. "Okay, I'm not saying I believe this Peter guy or anything but there were some pretty big rumors about other people floating around after that party. Way more scandalous than Joani kissing Derek. There's a good chance it got drowned out by the bigger stuff."

"Or that no one really saw them, just Peter. And from what Peter said, Derek never gave her any attention before or afterward, pretty much acted like she didn't exist. And I can't really see Joani bragging to everyone about how some guy blew her off. She would probably keep that info to herself," Ashley added.

"Well, she's a total hoebag," Mila huffed, her arms crossed. "Derek probably didn't want her hoebaggy lips all over him. I'm sure he didn't want to be one of the many in the long line of guys that have hooked up with her. I mean she pretty much screams, 'I'm easy!'"

Chloe stomach plummeted even further. Besides feeling intensely jealous of this Joani person, what Mila said also tapped into what she was really worried about—what she suspected scared Derek away. That he thought she was easy. Last night, things seemed to be going in the right direction, that maybe there was a chance Derek liked her—at least liked her enough to make the first move, but maybe he was turned off by her behavior. Which was frustrating since Chloe _wasn't_ easy, most people would think she was incredibly innocent, including herself, and maybe that's what attracted Derek in the first place.

_But he certainly wouldn't think that after he kissed me._

She certainly didn't act innocent last night, she acted like she'd give him anything he wanted. A hot blush spread over her cheeks as she remembered how desperately she kissed him back, how greedy her hands were to touch his skin.

_Oh, God. What does he think of me? How can I ever look him in the eye again?_

Chloe met Mila's reassuring gaze. "He probably just got scared because, well, liking someone is scary," Mila reasoned. "And he's someone who keeps to himself—doesn't let a lot of people in—and maybe he just felt overwhelmed."

Jen and Ashley eagerly nodded in agreement. "Totally," Jen said. "Guys sometimes just freak out when they like someone. They don't know what to do with themselves."

"And you guys have become friends," Ashley added. "Maybe he felt like he jeopardized the friendship."

A few more reasons were thrown around, a couple of them sounding incredibly farfetched, but Chloe appreciated what her friends were doing, although none of them made the horrible humiliation go away. She gave them a small, sad smile and met Mila's eyes.

"I know he likes you, Chloe," Mila said firmly. "I just know it."

Nodding dutifully, Chloe knew otherwise.

…...

It was Monday morning and Chloe wished she could march down the halls of school uncaring and bold but that was impossible. Instead, she purposely made herself late to school just so she could decrease her chances of running into Derek. Her next plan of action was to race to the bathroom at the end of each class, and linger there until the last possible moment then rush to her next class.

It was really all about avoidance. A simple plan but not really an easy one.

But she was successful all the way up to lunch where she practically sprinted to the cafe a few blocks from school rather than walk with her girlfriends. _Just more risk of running into him, _she reasoned while waiting for her friends to show up. She knew she was being an absolute freak, but being a freak greatly outweighed the uncomfortable thought of locking eyes with Derek.

_What if he looked at me with that cold look of his?_

_Or worse, what if he just ignored me all together?_

_And what if I get so nervous, I start stuttering and can't stop?_

_Or worse, I throw up all over myself?_

_...It could happen._

When the girls finally arrived, Chloe was determined to distract herself with conversation that was stubbornly not about Derek. They all played along, knowing Chloe needed to pretend everything was normal to get through her day, but it didn't stop her from glancing at the clock every few seconds, not wanting to go back to school, willing time to slow down.

By the time lunch was over, Chloe opted to stay at the cafe and spend her study time there.

Just in case.

But time had an annoying way of moving relentlessly forward and soon it was time to head back to school for her most dreaded class.

The class that she shared with Derek.

She, of course, was still implementing the same plan. Waiting until the last possible second, she made her way back to school, eyes darting every which way, always searching for a familiar, giant figure to suddenly appear. Her heightened level of paranoia reminded her of the spy movies she always watched with her dad, except she felt jumpy and nauseous—not at all like a badass spy.

Glancing at the time on her phone, she hid behind a tree until class had almost started, then raced towards the entrance. The bell rang as she skidded to a halt behind a pillar a few doors from her classroom and peered around it. She knew she was acting ridiculous and knew she should be a little embarrassed by her behavior, but compared to the embarrassment she felt when Derek rejected her, this was nothing.

It was completely clear; no one was in the hallway. Taking a huge, resigned breath she marched towards her classroom, determined not even look in Derek's direction. Heart beating like crazy, she entered her class and offered Mr. Rosen a rushed apology, before sliding into her seat.

She could feel him.

Feel him sitting a few desks away. His massive form dominating her peripherals, tempting her to look. Just once. Just a quick glimpse. She wouldn't though.

But she could still feel him.

And even though she kept her eyes forward, she knew he was watching her. She gulped what felt like a giant cotton ball down her throat and stared at her teacher—specifically at the bridge of his glasses—with the intensity of someone who's clearly not paying attention to the person she was staring at.

She could still feel his eyes on her.

She was sure of it, but she wouldn't risk a glance, though it didn't stop the hot blush from creeping up her neck, settling in her cheeks. Trying to look calm, she robotically took notes—of what, she wasn't sure—and trained her eyes straight ahead, but a couple of times she almost looked over at Derek before catching herself and gluing her eyes back onto Mr. Rosen's glasses. However, her mind, which had suddenly turned evil, began replaying the kiss, or rather kisses, and his hands...

_His hands._

Chloe almost whimpered at the thought of his gorgeous hands moving over her, holding her. Then she almost groaned with humiliation as she recalled his horrified expression and the way he just...left her.

With a quick glance at the clock, she readied herself to exit her classroom the moment class was over, in what she hoped would be Guinness Book of Record's breakneck speed. The second the bell rang, Chloe shot out of her desk and was out the door before anyone even got up. She speed-walked to the theater, not even risking a look behind her, and didn't stop until she rushed on stage and hid in the wings.

Catching her breath, she knew she either had to laugh at herself or scold herself for being such a lunatic.

_It's official. I've lost my mind...and I'm also pathetic._

Chloe peeked through the wings out at the seats and could only see darkness but she knew no one from her class had shown up yet. It was still so quiet. Rifling through her bag for the keys to the equipment closet, she suddenly she felt something...

An eerie, prickly feeling.

A feeling like someone was watching her.

She swung around and she thought she caught a glimpse of something—a movement—in the corner of her eye.

"H-Hello?" she called, voice shaking. Immediately, her hand released the keys and went straight for the pocket she kept her mace in, wrapping her fingers firmly around it. She scanned the space again.

"Hello," she repeated in a firmer voice.

"Chloe?"

With a yelp, Chloe practically jumped a foot and spun around, almost fumbling her mace as she whipped it out in front of her.

It was Mila, looking surprised and slightly scared, her hands up in the air in surrender.

"Sorry," Mila said breathlessly. "I thought I heard you over here. Are you okay?"

"Mila, God, I'm sorry. I just—" Chloe quickly put the mace away. "I thought I saw something—over there," she said, pointing over her shoulder. "I guess I'm just a little jumpy today." When Chloe saw Mila stifling a smile, she added wryly, "More so than usual."

"Well, I didn't see anyone around here. I'm pretty sure no one has shown up yet," Mila offered, slinging an arm over Chloe "C'mon, class is about to start. And don't worry, I always get a little creeped out in the wings. It's nice to see you using your mace, though."

Class was even busier than usual since opening night was approaching quickly and Chloe was neck deep in about a hundred, little details that needed to be completed. She barely had enough time to think and she was grateful when the bell rang and grateful that she managed to avoid Derek for the entire day. Just to be safe, she had Mila peer out into the hallways to see if it was clear.

"He's not out there," Mila whispered, gesturing for Chloe to follow her. They quickly walked towards the exit, milling through the crowds of students, with Chloe keeping a constant vigilance. Once they were outside, heading towards the parking lot, Chloe knew she was home free.

Relief—that's what she felt, knowing how hard it would be to see Derek right now...but she felt disappointed too. She missed interacting with him, even when it was usually about homework or their project—his dry sense of humor, his flashes of sweetness...

_And let's face it...I miss looking at him._

Then Chloe heard Mila gasp.

"Don't look up," Mila whispered. "Crap, you wouldn't believe who's leaning against your car right now."

Chloe, of course, did look up and saw that unmistakable hulking form.

Derek.

Immediately, she felt a renewed surge of anxiety and humiliation rush over her.

And the heavy ache of disappointment in her chest.

He was leaning against her car, his arms crossed and it didn't help that he looked good—really good—just like he did the last time she saw him. Another wave of regret bubbled in her gut. The last time she saw him she was watching his back vanish in the darkness. A few moments before that she was sitting on his lap, kissing him so hard her lips still tingled from the memory.

For a moment, she debated on ducking behind some cars and crouch-running to the safety of Mila's car and getting a ride home from her but that plan flew out the window when she locked eyes with him.

_Great. This would be a really perfect time to be struck by lightning._

Approaching him slowly, she flashed her best fake smile, the one she practiced specifically for this moment. She hoped it didn't look as pained as it felt. His expression was hard to read as usual. It seemed to take forever to reach him but it helped that Mila was whispering words of encouragement to her. When they finally stopped in front of him she prayed that she would at least appear somewhat cool and collected.

She cleared her throat. "Hey, Derek."

"Hey." Uncrossing his arms, he nodded a greeting to Mila, taking a step towards them. His face was guarded but his eyes seemed...warm. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh..." Chloe shot a quick glance at Mila, who seemed to be waiting for Chloe's answer. "Sure. I'll just talk to you later, Mila." Looking worried, Mila nodded slowly, sending a hard look in Derek's direction, before turning and walking away.

"What do you want to talk about?" Chloe asked as innocently as possible, hoping the blush warming her cheeks didn't give her away.

He was silent for a moment and the already awkward moment became even more awkward.

"It's about the party. I—" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to apologize for being so forward, I guess. It's just that—I...you know, I had a few beers and I just..."

Chloe could feel the blush on her cheeks become about a hundred degrees warmer.

"It was—" he struggled, "I didn't mean to just..."

_He didn't mean to what? Didn't meant to kiss me._

She already suspected he didn't mean to kiss her but to finally hear it from him—it was like a slap in the face. Mortification seemed to burn right through her as she watched Derek attempt to tell her it was all a big, fat, giant mistake. And it was made so much worse by the fact that he was trying to be nice about it—trying to let her down easy by blaming it on the alcohol. She knew if she listened to one more second of his excuses she would probably burst into tears—she needed to get out of there.

She smiled up at him, willing herself to appear unaffected. "Don't worry about it, Derek." He looked momentarily confused. "I completely understand."

"You understand?"

"Yeah," she said nodding, "Really. What happened at the party—it's really not that big of a deal." And Chloe was amazed how the biggest lie she had ever told tumbled so easily past her lips.

Derek blinked. "Not a big deal," he repeated slowly. "Oh. Okay." The warmth in his eyes was immediately gone, replaced by a dull blankness. He nodded slowly. "Okay, good. That's good. I was hoping you felt that way."

"We're still friends, right?" she asked tentatively, unsure of why she even asked that in the first place. "I mean..."

"Friends." Derek paused looking at Chloe closely. "Yes, of course we're still friends." He took a deep breath. "Um, so we need to figure out how we're going to find time finishing our project and it's a..."

He continued to talk but Chloe had no idea what he was saying, she just nodded and agreed at the appropriate times, feeling completely numb.

"...so we should still meet up on Thursday," he continued, "but maybe over the weekend too." He paused, looking a little concerned. "Chloe?"

"Sorry, just—yes, we'll meet Thursday and also the weekend. Sounds good." Pulling her keys out of her bag, she gave him another smile. "I actually have to get going but I'll, um, see you later, right?"

"Yeah...And Chloe?" He hesitated, dropping his gaze from hers and backing away. "Uh, never mind. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Then he turned and walked away.

She watched him for a moment until her vision was blurred with tears before getting in her car. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve she started her drive home, telling herself that it was better this way, that it didn't really matter, that it wasn't that big of a deal.

But as the tears continued, she knew it did matter and it would continue to matter and she would continue to like him and she'll always want more than being _just friends._

It was just then when Chloe realized this was much more than a crush, much more than just _liking_ Derek.

_It was so much more than that._

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	16. The Field

A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you are having a lovely 4th of July holiday! And for those in other countries, I hope you're having a fantastic weekend. Thank you to everyone for hanging in there with this story and a back rub for those who reviewed. This chapter took much longer than I intended and I'm so sorry for that. Life is busy...blah,blah,blah but I had some pretty scary and sad stuff happen, so there were a couple of weeks that I really couldn't do anything. But nothing helps hard times than a distraction sometimes and so this chapter was a welcomed distraction. And the chapter is pretty long, so I hope it makes up for the wait. I still have a deadline that I need to finish, I'm late with that too. *sigh* Oh well. Anyway, I'm really curious to see what people think about this chapter.

There's also the debate I was having with myself for the rating of this story. Now, I'll publish the poll and you'll see where everyone is leaning (thank you everyone for voting). But the longer I write this and alter the original outline, the more it feels like a T. It just seems like it might be forced when it's time for them get busy. I'll keep it at M for now cuz you never know, it might seem plausible later but I wanted to warn you guys. Now, if there isn't a lemony lemon in this story, I WILL WRITE ONE IN A ONESHOT AFTER THE STORY IS COMPLETE (sorry about the caps abuse). So don't worry about that (since it's planned in ridiculous detail in my mind-I know, I'm a nerd).

A huge thank you to my pretty betas: Fanpire4000 and Tweety4be. They are really so awesome in every way.

Disclaimer: Don't own Darkest Powers.

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Chloe's week didn't get worse. It didn't get better either. It was the same—the same being absolutely horrible.

She was caught between being angry at everything, mostly at herself, to being depressed. It was hard to accept that her feelings for Derek would never be reciprocated and she scolded herself for falling for someone so unattainable, but there was that hope—the kisses they shared—that made her think that...just maybe, only to have that thought snatched away by reality.

Her mood wasn't helped by all the lame posters plastered all over the place for the informal dance that was coming up in a couple of weekends. Not like she wanted to go, she wasn't really into that sort of thing but if she wanted to, the one person she'd be interested in going with wasn't interested in _her._

It was only made worse by how God awful the handmade posters looked, insulting her visual sensibilities to no end.

_It's like someone, or something, just barfed obscene amounts of glitter all over the place!_

She ignored the posters and instead moved through the halls of school like a wandering zombie—eyes unseeing, face expressionless. She didn't even try to avoid Derek, since it never worked anyway but she didn't go out of her way to seek him out either. However, her eyes were naturally drawn to him, like a magnet, especially in class where she would sneak glimpses of him—his huge body slouched uncomfortably in his chair, his profile strong and face unreadable. She would be practically squirming in her seat, wanting so badly to throw herself at his feet and just beg him to give her one little chance. Or maybe just pretend for one hour that he liked her more than just a friend, just so she would know what it felt like.

_Or maybe I could just jump on him and cling to him like a tick screaming, "Please! For the love of God, kiss me!" _

Not very dignified, she knew.

The only positive was the news that Simon and his girlfriend broke up. Awesome news really, except it seemed every girl in the universe was hanging on him wherever he went, hoping for a chance. That didn't help Mila's state of mind but Chloe could tell she was trying not complain too much—trying to be supportive of Chloe—knowing how awful Chloe felt at the moment. But Chloe was feeling optimistic for her friend, that was at least something to be glad about.

When the dreaded Thursday finally arrived, Chloe was surprised she didn't feel nervous about meeting Derek after school. She just felt numb and resigned, knowing how hard it would be to spend time with him in a small room, sitting across from him and trying not to stare at him like some creepy, stalker girl.

"You alright?" Mila asked worriedly, as their drama class was let out.

Chloe took a deep breathe. "Yeah, I'm okay." She flashed Mila a brave smile but she could tell her friend wasn't buying it. She turned away quickly, gathering her things and hid her profile behind her hair.

"You know, you don't have to go," Mila suggested. "I mean, from what you told me, you guys are pretty much done with your project. There's no reason to meet, right?"

Chloe shrugged, suddenly feeling so sad. "There's a bunch of details that need polishing and Derek's a bit of a perfectionist so..." She glanced up at her friend, trying not to look dejected and pathetic. "I'll be fine," she said quietly.

Mila nodded slowly and nudged Chloe affectionately. "I'll walk with you."

"Thanks," Chloe murmured, swallowing a lump in her throat.

As they exited the theater, a small group of girls almost plowed right into Chloe. She stumbled a little and glanced up to see a very familiar face looking back at her in surprise.

It was Rae.

"Rae, I—" Chloe started but Rae looked quickly away, her expression awkward and uncomfortable. Rae muttered a quick apology then snapped her mouth shut and walked away with her friends.

Chloe stood there, not sure if she was pleased with Rae actually talking to her—however brief—or troubled that they were barely civil with each other since their falling out. Mila stood next to Chloe protectively, looking like she would ask Chloe how she was doing again at any moment.

"I'm fine," Chloe assured, then wanting to change the mood, asked, "So, have you seen Simon today?"

The worried look on Mila's face morphed into a timid smile as they both walked towards the library. "A little. He said hi to me at my locker."

"Really? Tell me everything," Chloe smiled.

Mila blushed and told Chloe every teeny, tiny detail until they reached the library. At the entrance, Mila gave Chloe a quick hug and Chloe entered the library, trudging toward the small study room. Derek was already there and Chloe chest seemed to constrict at the sight of him. His head was bent down flipping through a large book.

His head snapped up, eyes meeting hers. "Hey."

And Chloe realized her mistake too late. She should have never made eye contact with him because the moment she did, her brain seemed to short circuit. All she could see was the unusual the color of his eyes and how they seemed to encompass every thought in her head.

Seconds passed by.

Luckily, she somehow managed to tear her gaze away before she could really embarrassed herself. "Um, hi." She tentatively made her way to the large table and sat down across from him.

_Apparently, I can't even look at him in the eye without turning into a freak anymore._

"How are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Good. Good, you know, good," Chloe responded with a rising blush, careful to keep her head down as she removed her notes and books from her bag.

"That's...good," Derek answered uncertainly. He seemed to wait for a response before returning to his book.

They went to work quickly, easing into an awkward silence. Chloe was determined to keep her head down but was distracted by how close he was. She was so ridiculously aware of his movements, his breathing and—_dammit_—his incredible smell, that she thought she might lose her mind. Gritting her teeth, she continued to work but something sparkly caught the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she gazed at the wall.

It was one of those glitter-explosion posters, mocking her in all it's horrifying glory.

_Can I not escape from these monstrosities?_

She glared up at it. This one was particularly vomitrocious. She had a vision of herself jumping up and tearing it from the wall, ripping it into a million little pieces before she threw it on the ground and stomped all over it, then set all those annoying little pieces on fire.

"Chloe. You okay?"

Instinctively, Chloe turned toward Derek's voice and locked eyes with him before she could stop herself. Her brain instantly went on vacation.

_Green. That color green._

It reminded her of a Japanese tea set her dad bought her mother for an anniversary. Chloe was too young to remember the occasion, but she knew, growing up, that her mother cherished it. Sometimes Chloe would stare at it in it's special place in the glass cabinet in the dining room. It was such an unusual color. A stone green with hints of hazel and gold. That's what Derek's eyes reminded her—

"Chloe?"

She jumped. "What?"

_Oh crap. I was staring again, wasn't I?_

"I-I was just, um." She shuffled her papers absently. "I was...It's those posters." Her hand gestured at the poster. "I really hate glitter."

Derek's eyebrows shot up. "You hate glitter," he said slowly.

"Yes, well, I hate the abuse of glitter, actually." She swallowed hard, her cheeks already feeling warm.

"Glitter abuse?" The corners of his mouth twitched.

"Yes, it's often abused," she responded with some force. "I mean, look at it. It's enough to make my eyes bleed. Seriously, I imagine that's what it would look like if a unicorn or some other kind of magical creature took a gigantic dump." Her eyes widened when she realized what she just said to Derek. Embarrassment burned through her as she clapped her hand over her mouth.

The room was silent for a minute before a deep, rumbling laugh erupted from across the table. Chloe risked a glimpse, careful to keep her eyes on the lower part of his face. It didn't matter though, his eyes were closed while he leaned back and laughed heartily, his large shoulders shaking and his mouth split in his wide, lopsided smile. Her eyes zeroed in on his mouth and she felt that dazed feeling seizing her again.

_Great. Now I have to worry about his smile too._

"Unicorn..." he said through his laughter. "Taking a dump?" He shook his head. "Where did you come up with _that_?"

Chloe laughed back nervously. "I don't know. I didn't think...It just popped into my head, I guess."

He shook his head again and peered up at her and this time Chloe didn't even try to look away. She could feel her eyes widen as Derek's eyes softened, a hint of his laughter on the corner of his mouth. Throat suddenly dry, Chloe gulped hard and the sound seemed so loud in her ears, she wouldn't have been surprised if Derek heard.

They continued to gaze at each other until Derek's face hardened and he looked away abruptly. Chloe's heart sank at his sudden change in mood.

"We should probably figure out when we can study this weekend," he said in a tight voice.

"Saturday afternoon works for me," Chloe answered softly, looking down at her hands. "A-Around two, I guess?"

Derek nodded. "Sure," he exhaled. "There's a library close to my house. Walking distance, actually. Did you..." He paused, hesitating. "Did you want to come over again?"

"Yeah. That's fine," Chloe replied, even though it was anything but fine. They were silent after that, only speaking to each other when one of them had a question and when they said to goodbye to each other an hour later.

…...

Chloe was _not _looking forward to waking up on Saturday morning. But she did wake up and much earlier than usual, which really pissed her off. She tried to distract herself with reading a book, playing with her editing program, calling one of her friends—even though none of them were awake yet—but nothing worked. Finally out of desperation she begged her dad to take her out to breakfast, he was only happy to oblige since the invitation from his daughter to hang out was so rare. He jumped at the chance.

It helped. They did some errands after breakfast which also kept Chloe distracted enough not to pull every strand of hair out of her head and before she knew it, she was driving over to Derek's. After parking, she approached the door and with a racing heart, knocked on the door. A smiling Simon answered the door a few moments later.

"Chloe!" He ushered her in with one of his blinding grins. "Derek's upstairs. He should be down in a minute," he explained as he led her towards the kitchen. "He just got out of the shower."

_Shower?_

On cue, Chloe blushed to her ears and was forever grateful Simon had his back to her. She managed to get herself under control when they entered the kitchen.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Simon opened the fridge, peering in. "Anything to eat? You hungry?"

She shook her head, smiling at Simon's friendliness. "No, thank you."

"You sure? Water? Soda?"

"Simon, will you stop pestering her?" Derek's deep voice came up from behind her.

"I'm not pestering her. She looks thirsty," Simon shrugged.

"I-I'm okay. Thanks, Simon," Chloe said, keeping her eyes down.

"No probs, Chlo," Simon replied, grabbing a bottled water and placing it in front of her on the kitchen island. He gave her a wink. "Just in case."

She smiled in return and she heard Derek's irritated sigh as he sidled up next to her. Fighting the urge to peer up at him, she opened the bottle with fumbling fingers and almost spilled the water down the front of her as she took a shaky sip.

"So, Chloe," Simon started slowly, trying to sound nonchalant. "Your friend, Mila, she seems like a cool girl."

Chloe fought a grin and looked innocently up at Simon. "Yeah, she's really cool. One of the nicest people I know." She tucked her hair behind her ear and watched him closely. "I guess I would consider her my best friend." This time she did grin. "I mean, if I were to try and list all her cool traits, it might take all day," she added, hoping she wasn't laying it on too thick.

Simon nodded along, looking serious. "That's...cool." Clearing his throat, he went on, "I think we shared a class together last year but never really talked. Just said hi a few times. I've only really seen her hanging out with the same group of people. You know, like you and a few other girls and um—"

"What Simon is trying to ask you in his dumbass way is, does she have a boyfriend?" Derek cut in brusquely.

"Dude!" Simon gave his brother a look of annoyed exasperation. "You didn't have to just blurt it out like that, okay. I was getting to that eventually!"

"Actually, I did have to blurt it out like that," Derek answered with a roll of his eyes. "You were totally transparent and you were on the verge of making of fool out of yourself. It was painful to watch." Simon opened his mouth in an angry retort but Derek beat him to it. "Trust me, I'm helping you out here."

Chloe had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud at the bickering but she was also internally jumping for joy for Mila. Automatically, her hands itched to grab her phone and immediately text her friend to what had just happened.

"How exactly are you helping me out?" Simon demanded.

"I'll explain it to you later." And to Chloe, it sounded like Derek was most definitely _not _going to explain it to him later. He just wanted his brother off his back. "We should get going."

Chloe nodded, catching her first glimpse of Derek from the corner of her eye. It was enough to have her clutching the counter to regain her balance. She didn't dare look up again but the image was forever scorched in her brain...

His black hair was shiny and wet, dripping trails of water down his neck—his perfect neck—spotting his t-shirt over his large shoulders and chest.

Chloe squeezed her eyes closed, imagining what it would be like to be a drop of water on Derek's body.

_Heaven? _

She blinked her eyes open and realized she was about a second away from having a freaky fantasy of the object of her affection, who happened to be standing right next to her. Thankfully, Derek was preoccupied with grabbing his phone off the counter and zipping it up in one of the side pockets of his bag to notice Chloe's red—and slightly sweaty—face and Simon was too busy glaring at his brother.

"Ready?" Derek asked, pulling on his jacket.

She nodded, then said a quick goodbye to Simon, who was still fuming but managed to give her his signature smile.

Once outside, the cool, crisp air swirled around them. Chloe looked around hesitantly. "Are we really walking?" She glanced at him quickly. "It's pretty cold out and with your wet hair..." Her voice trailed off.

"Nah, it's really close. We just have to cross a field and we're there." He pointed behind her. "Besides, it's not that cold and the sun's out. Who knows when it'll come out again."

Nodding in agreement, she walked up beside him. They set off down the block, crossing a street and made their way through the field. Their feet crunched loudly on the gravel pathway as Chloe took in the surroundings. Tall swaying trees bordered the field, making it feel like they were in the middle of nowhere and with the sun shining down on them, Chloe was glad for such a nice walk.

They chatted briefly about their project but were mostly silent. A short time later, they reached the large, brick library and Derek directed her through the building to a quiet, solitary table behind an aisle of tall bookshelves.

The second Chloe set her bag down, she excused herself and walked quickly to the restroom, locking herself in a stall and whipping out her phone. She sent a detailed text to Mila about what Simon had asked, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for a response. None came and she sighed, wishing she could find Mila and tell her everything before she left the restroom.

Returning to their table, Chloe noticed that Derek's hair was almost dry and she had the sudden urge to run her fingers through it. His hair looked so dark and thick, so unlike hers that she couldn't help but be curious about the texture.

She sat down instead.

A few minutes later, all of their project notes and presentations were splayed in the middle of the table, along with a list of all the details they needed to complete before they turned their project in. Mila was right. Most of this stuff was done but Chloe and Derek decided to go through everything a few times to catch any mistakes and to make sure they weren't forgetting anything.

It was tedious work and before they knew it, almost three hours had passed and Chloe's stomach was growling.

"You want to get out of here?" Derek asked, already gathering his stuff. "I'm starving all of a sudden."

"Sure." Chloe sorted her things into her backpack and stood up. "After you."

As they pushed past the main doors, Chloe was surprised to see it was almost dusk and the air was much colder than before. She wrapped her jacket more tightly around her body, her breath steaming in front of her as they entered the field. But even with the cooler temperature, the light purplish sky and the surrounding trees gave the moment an almost romantic feel to it and Chloe had to resist the urge to reach for Derek's large, warm hand.

She wanted so badly to touch him. So badly—that when she felt a light brush of his fingertips around her arm, she jumped from shock and excitement. Peering up at him hopefully, she was surprised he wasn't gazing down at her. In fact, he was staring forward, a frown set deep in his face.

Chloe followed his line of sight and saw a group of people approaching them from the opposite part of the field.

It was five guys.

Chloe tensed immediately, mainly from Derek's own reaction. Staring at them hard, she recognized one of the guys from her math class. _What was his name? Kevin? _She relaxed a bit. He seemed like an alright guy. Then she noticed the person in the middle, leading the group. She knew that arrogant walk from anywhere.

It was Brady.

Derek's fingers wrapped around Chloe's upper arm firmly and he pulled her behind him as he stopped walking.

There was no mistaking their body language, they were heading straight towards them and Brady's posture seemed to radiate aggression the closer he got.

"Well, if it isn't The Quitter," Brady's voice boomed. "Look it, guys. It's the fuckface who ruined our last season."

Chloe felt Derek stiffen and the arm that pulled her behind him was now stretched protectively around of her, almost wrapping around her back. She huddled closer to him as she scanned their faces nervously.

Brady looked absolutely gleeful and angry at the same time, the other guys didn't look much different, with the exception of Kevin, who seemed hesitant.

"What do you want, Brady?" Derek rumbled, dropping his bag to the ground and standing to full height.

The group halted a few yards in front of them. "What do I want? What do I want? I'll tell you what I want," Brady went on. "I want some fucking vindication, asshole, after you screwed us all over. That's what I want."

"Vindication, huh?" Derek answered, his voice calm.

"Yeah, that's right," Brady retorted. "I want some serious payback." Brady was glaring hard now, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his fists clenched by his side.

"Brady, let's chill for a second, man." It was Kevin. His eyes shifted over to Brady. "Whatever you're thinking about doing," Kevin's voice implored, "don't do it." Kevin's eyes flashed over to Chloe, looking concerned about the unraveling situation. She felt the same way.

"Shut the fuck up, Kevin," Brady snapped, his temper clearly rising. "Why do have be such a bitch about everything?"

"Brady—" Kevin started.

"Dude, I said shut up!" he yelled, his face now looking murderous as his three other friends gradually positioned themselves around Derek.

_This is so not good, _Chloe thought, as she warily watched them surround her and Derek. She inched closer to Derek's back, pressing against him. He wrapped his arm tighter around her.

Chloe's heart was pounding, adrenaline pumping through her muscles as her body instinctively readied itself for fight or flight. These weren't good odds. Derek was big and strong and clearly tough, but she wasn't sure if he could take on four guys at the same time. Guys who were the same age as Derek and athletic as well. Her hand slipped into her bag, wrapping around her mace.

"Chloe," Derek murmured to her. "You need to get out of here."

"What? No!" She whispered back fiercely. "I'm not leaving you."

"What's this?" Brady seemed to notice Chloe for the first time, peering at her around Derek. "You gotta a girlfriend, dude?"

"She's cute," one of guys chimed in.

"Yeah, cute if you like trolling for girls at an elementary school," Brady taunted. His harsh gaze focused on Chloe.

She felt Derek's back flex hard against her. "Whatever happens, Brady, I promise you," Derek warned menacingly. "I'm going to make you bleed today."

"You're not really in the position to be making any threats, _Derek,_" Brady snarled back. "As for you, blondie, you should get the hell out of here." He smiled grimly. "It's going to get really ugly and we wouldn't want you to get caught in the crossfire now do we?" he added, looking like he didn't give a rat's ass about that at all.

Derek hand grasped Chloe's fingers, his touch gentle and reassuring as he pulled her away from him. She shook her head, but his eyes pleaded with her to go. Slowly, she picked up his backpack and walked away, steering clear from the group. She had no intention of leaving, just pretend like she was while she tried to think of a way to help Derek.

_I have my mace and that's good. But...but maybe I should call 911? No, they'd take too long to get here and I wouldn't even know how to explain where we are exactly._

She turned and glanced back, careful not to get too far.

_I can text Simon. He'll know where we are._

Fumbling for her phone, she remembered she didn't have his number.

_Crap! Wait, but Derek does. _

She vaguely recalled him placing his phone in one of the side pockets of his bag. Hands trembling, she unzipped the pocket and groped inside and—

_Found it!_

She shot a quick quick glimpse at Derek and so far there was no action, just Brady posturing loudly but she knew any second the situation would explode. Fiddling impatiently with his phone, her back to the group, she sent Simon a short message. She hoped it was clear enough.

**trble field**

She turned to see the guys closing in on Derek, with the exception of Kevin. Chloe dropped both her and Derek's bag and gripped the mace firmly in her hand.

Then the air exploded with yells.

Immediately, four guys engulfed Derek. She sprinted towards him, her heart banging in her ears. She couldn't see him but she could hear punches and shouts. Kevin managed to pull one of his friend's off Derek but that still left three guys on top of him.

There was a loud grunt, and one of the boy's doubled over, gasping for breath as he clutched his stomach. She looked for an opening but it was hard to tell what was happening. All she could see were the blurred movements of fists and arms. Frantic, she flipped the safety and aimed her mace towards them but they were all so tangled up. She didn't want to hit Derek. Her eyes caught a flash of him. He was on his feet, holding his own.

Kevin struggled to hold his friend back but his friend threw him off and lunged at Derek. In one quick movement, Chloe steadied her hand, aiming straight for the guy's face. She pushed that button for all it's worth. A stream shot out but he was moving so fast the stream didn't hit him directly in the eyes. It hit the side of face instead.

A howl erupted from him and he dropped to the ground clutching his face. Everyone froze, gaping at the figure rolling around on the ground.

"F-Freeze!" Chloe shouted, thrusting the mace out in front of her with a shaky hand. Then she said the most obvious thing ever. "I have mace!"

They stared at her. Every set of eyes as round as perfect circles—gawking incredulously at her like she just stepped off a UFO and announced she was an alien. It may have been funny under different circumstances but Derek had a nasty cut on his lip and it only fueled Chloe's determination.

Derek recovered from the shock first, his fist flashing as he landed a wicked uppercut to Brady's jaw that sent him reeling, blood spurting from his mouth. Derek swung his elbow into the remaining guy's chest. He staggered back, wincing in pain.

Derek smirked at the blood pouring from Brady's mouth. "Told you I was going to make you bleed," he stated, matter of fact.

Brady glared up at him, wiping the blood from his face with the back of his hand. He stood up slowly. His eyes slid over towards Chloe's mace then to Derek's defiant stance. He was calculating his chances, Chloe realized. Derek maneuvered himself in front of her, which really wasn't ideal if she needed to mace someone again.

Pained, soft curses came from the boy Chloe maced as he lay on back, his eyes squeezed tight. Two of Brady's buddies straightened themselves out, one of them grimacing in pain, but ready to fight again. Kevin looked aghast as he stood back.

Brady and his two friends inched closer to them. Derek pushed Chloe further behind him. She wanted to protest but she knew it was no use. Instead, she held her mace up, ready for anything. Then Brady lunged, his other friend following closely behind him. Brady threw a punch. Derek ducked but it still managed to clip the side of his head. The other boy flew at Derek attempting to pin his arms down but Derek's foot shot out and struck his knee. Brady's friend cried out, tumbling to the ground.

Everything seemed to speed up and slow down a the same time. Chloe was vaguely aware of Kevin's voice yelling for them to stop as the third guy charged at Derek. She aimed her mace but Derek's head was right in the way. Then Chloe caught flash of movement and instantly the third guy wasn't there anymore. A muffled yell came from the ground and she saw Simon on top of him, punching him in the face.

Another shout erupted and Chloe swung around just to see Derek's fist slam up into Brady's stomach. The blow was so strong it lifted Brady right off his feet. Brady wavered then toppled to his knees, gulping for air.

Derek stepped away, he looked around panicked until he spotted Chloe. He rushed over to her, his hands gripping her shoulders. "You okay?"

She nodded and pointed at Simon who was getting to his feet after offering one last kick to the guy he tackled. The rest of the them were all groaning, struggling to stand.

"What in the motherfuck!" Simon demanded furiously. "What a bunch of fucking assholes, fighting against one dude?" he railed at them. "Wow, you must be so proud of yourselves!" He looked like he was going to go after someone, but he held back. "You could have seriously fucked up my brother. You could have hurt Chloe!" Simon yelled, glaring down at them in compete disgust. He spun towards Kevin, who took a quick step back, his hands out in front of him in surrender.

"I-It's okay, Simon," Chloe said, her voice sounding distant in her ears. "Kevin tried to stop them. He tried to help us."

Simon scowled at him. "Nice set of friends you have here, Kevin."

The guy Chloe maced got up shakily and Derek tensed next to her. Maybe she shouldn't have felt this way, but she was relieved that the guy seemed okay. Their eyes met and he looked away quickly, like he was ashamed of himself.

_Good. He should be._

"Simon, we should get out of here," Derek said. He wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulder, like it was an afterthought. She leaned into him, feeling strangely giddy after such a scary situation.

"Simon!" Derek called again. "Let's get out of here."

Simon didn't look like he wanted to leave. He looked like he wanted to kick some more ass. "Fine," he muttered.

The three of them moved cautiously away from Brady and his friends but not before Simon stood in front of Brady, staring hard at him. "Hey, asshole," Simon said, towering over him. "You and me—we're not done. I'll be seeing you around."

Brady glowered up at him, before rising to his feet and joining his friends.

Derek's arm slid off Chloe's shoulder, as they made their way out of the field. She tried to squelch the disappointment but it was impossible. Simon walked next to them, his outrage evident in the way he moved—jerky and high-strung.

"I cannot believe those guys," Simon said, his voice loud. "You both could have been seriously hurt. No one can hear what's going on in that field. No one would have come to help you." He shook his head. "It's a good thing you texted me when you did, Derek."

"Texted you?" Derek repeated, as he dabbed the blood on lip with the palm of his hand.

"Yeah, I got your text," Simon replied, looking like maybe Derek took a hard blow to the head.

"That was me," Chloe offered. Both Derek and Simon's heads swiveled towards her. They both looked stunned.

"Derek's phone was in his bag," she explained, blushing. "And I thought the fastest way to get help was to text you."

"Good thinking," Simon answered, looking impressed.

"And she maced someone," Derek said, a smile on the corner of his lips.

"Maced someone?" Simon's eyes looked like they might pop out of his head. His mouth gaped open, "Awesome!"

"It was pretty awesome." Derek peered down at her. "But it was dangerous. You could have gotten hurt."

"Yeah, but she didn't," Simon added, before whispering to himself in awe, "Mace."

"The mace was a present from Mila." Chloe slid a glance at Simon who looked _really_ impressed now.

They walked quickly back to Derek and Simon's house, the sky now darkening further. The moment Simon opened the door, their dad was right there.

Kit looked irritated. "Simon, where did you run off to?" he asked, annoyed. "You just raced right out of the house without—" His voice stalled when he saw Derek's face and his eyes widened. "What happened? What happened to your face?" he demanded worriedly.

"A few guys..." Derek didn't look like he wanted to have this conversation.

"A few guys what?" his dad repeated loudly. "Are you okay?" His eyes flickered to Chloe. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

She only nodded, unsure with how to respond.

"What happened, Derek?" Kit asked again.

"We handled it, dad," Derek stated. "It's fine."

"It most certainly is not fine." Kit crossed his arms, staring up at his son. When it looked like Derek wasn't going to add anything else, he looked at Simon. "I need answers."

Simon sighed loudly. "About five assho—I mean, guys from our school tried to fight Derek."

"Who?" his dad asked calmly, but Chloe could tell he was livid.

"Brady..." Derek answered. "And a few of his friends."

"Brady. That's the boy you have problems with," Kit said. He looked grim. "I need all the names."

Derek rubbed the back of neck. "Dad, it's not—"

"Names," his dad repeated firmly.

Simon exhaled loudly and listed the names, with Chloe reminding him that Kevin was trying to break the fight apart. Kit nodded as he listened.

"Monday, I'm calling the principle and issuing a complaint against those boys." Kit's expression was hard as he spoke.

"Dad. It's—" Derek started.

"Those boys are lucky I'm not pressing charges, Derek," his dad interrupted, crossing his arms again.

"But it wasn't on school property," Derek argued. "I just don't want to make this a big deal."

"Don't worry, Derek. It's more of a precautionary move." Kit raised his hand in assurance. "It won't be on their permanent record since it didn't happen on school property but it's really a protective measure for you and Simon. In case, one those kids' families decides to an issue a complaint against you." He peered up at Derek. "Okay?"

"That makes sense, I guess," Simon shrugged. Derek didn't look happy but he didn't argue either.

"It could have been much, much worse. And no one," Kit looked at his sons steadily, "no one messes with my boys."

Simon smiled at his dad and Derek mumbled something under his breath.

"So, Chloe, would like to stay for dinner?" Kit asked lightly. "I make a mean stir-fry."

She blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Yes. That sounds nice, Mr. Ba—er, I mean, Kit."

A few minutes later, Kit was in the kitchen with Simon helping him with dinner, while Chloe helped Derek set the table.

She heard Derek laugh softly. "What?" she asked, glancing up across the table at him.

He shook his head. "Nothing." Then he chuckled again.

"Derek."

"It's just..." he smirked. "I'm just remembering your face when you threatened to mace everyone. It was..."

"Yeah?" she questioned, already blushing.

"You looked like this wild woman." He was laughing harder now. "I mean, even I was a little nervous. You looked like you were on the edge."

"That's because I was," Chloe answered, suddenly feeling the effects of such a scary moment.

"Hey, I wasn't making fun of you." Derek's voice was soft. "You handled yourself well. I was...impressed."

"I didn't think you were making fun of me, Derek. I was just really frightened for you." Chloe gazed down at the silverware she was setting. They both were quiet for a moment, the only sounds were the clanking of pots and Simon's and Kit's voices.

"I was just relieved you got out of there. Then you came back..." He looked away, his eyes unfocused. "I was...worried..." He straightened out the plates in front of him. "You know," he started, smiling again. "I never thought I'd be—what do you call it? Some kind of person that needed rescuing, like a..."

"Like a damsel in distress?" Chloe finished.

"Yeah, something like that." He met her gaze. "But I was, wasn't I?"

"You took on four guys at the same time, Derek. I think it's a little hard to see you as this helpless person needing to be rescued from some, I don't know, some kind of dragon or whatever," Chloe giggled quietly.

"Maybe a glitter-vomiting unicorn?" Derek suggested dryly. Chloe wrinkled her nose. "But you did come to my rescue."

"So did Simon."

"Yeah, but we're brothers." Derek shrugged, like it was so obvious. "I guess that would make you my...what?" Derek continued.

"Knight in shining armor?" Chloe answered, now laughing.

"Yeah, that," he agreed, his mouth breaking into one of his gorgeous, crooked grins. Chloe's heart did back flip in her chest and she didn't even care that today she had experienced a terrifying moment. All that mattered was she was with Derek now. It was then that she realized how deep her feelings were for Derek.

She was in love.

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The inspiration for the glitter-puking unicorn line was from Ivorybreath. She has a deviantart account with an awesome illustration of an unicorn vomiting a rainbow. I simply love it so much. If you guys have time, check out her stuff at www(.)ivorybreath(.)deviantart(.)com. Very cool!

Oh, and when I get time I'll probably do an illustration of Simon. But I've been really struggling with what he would look like since he's supposed to be so cute. I mean, girls have been following him home (i.e. stalking) since he's 12 or 13. Okay, he has to be _really, really _hot for that to happen. Well, problem solved. I found (cyber-stalked) a model/actor who fits the bill, except he has dark hair. His name is Dennis Oh. Yes, Oh...as in "_OH_, my God that guy is fine as hell!" Now, I would definitely follow him _anywhere. _But alas, my insecurities would get the better of me since the guys is about a gazillion times more better looking than me. Ah well...


	17. Chopsticks

A/N: Happy New Year, y'all! I hope all of you had an awesome holidays. And I'm so sorry it took me FOREVER to update. I finally finished the project I've been working on forever, or as I like to call it "The Project That Would Never Die". Every time I thought I was done, there needed to be revisions and it just kept happening over and over again. I'll admit, I cried a lot. Plus, life really kicked my ass (some good ways, some not). Really, I'll be glad when this year is over since the bad stuff really wasn't fun.

Anyhoo, I'm starting up another project and I'm really excited for it but the good news is it won't be as time consuming as the last one. I'll still be busy but I should be able to update every 3 weeks regularly (got my fingers crossed). Thanks again for all your encouraging reviews and messages and just your continued interest in my story. It really means a lot and they were bright spots in my otherwise hectic life. Oh, and I usually try to answer all my reviews/messages and if I happened to miss your, I apologize ;)

This chapter is much shorter than most of my other chapters but the next will be much longer-so long that I may split in two chapters..we'll see. Plus, the next chapter I've been dying to write forever and FINALLY get to. Mwahahaha...I'm laughing evilly just thinking about it!

A huge kiss to my drop-dead gorgeous betas: Tweety4be and Fanpire4000. They really are the best! This chapter was lovingly beta'd by Tweety and I went back to change a few things, so those mistakes are mine and not ones she missed. xo

Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers, though I would love to since it's so awesome!

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"Chloe, do you need a fork?"

Chloe glanced up from her plate of stir-fry, meeting Derek's eyes briefly. He almost looked serious except for the slight curve at the corner of his mouth.

She blushed and looked down smiling. "No, I can use chopsticks just fine," she answered, awkwardly stabbing at her food.

"Yeah, we can see that," Simon teased. He sat across from her, picking a grain of rice with his pair of chopsticks and waving it front of her.

"Showoff," Chloe smiled.

Simon only grinned and popped the rice in his mouth. "You just hold it like this," he stated, holding his chopsticks expertly. "Then you just open and close—like this."

Chloe stared at Simon's prong-like grip. She tried to emulate it but her chopsticks ended up slipping through her fingers and clattering on her plate.

"Simon, showing Chloe how you can pick up food isn't really helping her," Kit said. He smiled at Chloe. "And she's doing just fine on her own."

"Thank you." She picked up her chopsticks, trying not to giggle as her fingers struggled to do _something_ with the chopsticks. "But I may need a fork."

Derek shifted in his seat to get up but Simon stopped him. Simon leveled a mock-serious stare her way. "Friends don't let friends give up on learning an important skill in life. This..." he said, lifting his chopsticks to eye level, "is a very important skill."

"Simon—" Kit sighed.

"Please, dad, don't interrupt! This is for her own good. It's—"

"Important?" Chloe finished, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Yeah, I gathered that." She shot a quick peek at Derek. He was looking at Simon as if he was both annoyed and amused with him.

"What if you find yourself in an important lunch meeting or maybe even an interview in, say, a sushi joint," Simon explained, like it could happen at any moment. "And let's say, you needed to really impress your lunch companion, or you're trying to explain something really complicated and..." He pretended to fumble with his chopsticks, "you keep dropping these stupid things and you lose your concentration and you bomb your interview, then you don't get the job you were dying to get—the job that you've wanted your entire life—because of your lack of dexterity with chopsticks..." He sighed dramatically. "... your life is completely ruined."

"That's just stupid," Derek said, shaking his head at his brother. "Chloe, just ignore him. He's just—"

"Just what?" Simon replied, grinning. "Just right, as usual?"

"In your dreams," Derek scoffed. He turned towards Chloe. "The trick is in the leverage. You see, you're holding it pretty good but just too far down, too close to your plate."

Derek held his own chopsticks in front of her, showing Chloe the placement of them in his hand. His fingers moved slowly, gliding smoothly over the shiny lacquered surface. Chloe's heart sped up.

She swallowed hard. "Like this?" she replied breathlessly, copying Derek's hand movements and hoping they all thought she was blushing because of the teasing and not because of Derek's obnoxiously, hot hands. She picked up a piece of broccoli. It wobbled a little but didn't drop.

"Nice," Simon said, nodding his head.

She glanced up at Derek. He gave her a smile, his green eyes soft. Her heart lurched and she had the wild urge to clear the table with a one dramatic sweep of her arm, jump on the table and declare her love for him at the top of her lungs.

Of course, that was never going to happen, since that would require a healthy amount of crazy and bravery and also a personality transplant. Plus, she would never be able to scrub the look of embarrassment and mortification on Derek's face from her brain. Not to mention his dad and Simon's shocked expressions.

_And of course the horrible mess of broken dishes._

She almost laughed at herself.

"So, Chloe, if your dad has any concerns about what happened earlier today between those boys and Derek," Kit offered, "he can always give me a call."

"Oh, right," Chloe said, fiddling uneasily with her chopsticks. "I'll be sure to let him know that." She had promised Kit she would mention the fight Derek got into—and she would mention it...technically. Usually, when her dad prepared for a big business trip, he was so busy trying to get his files organized on his computer the night before, that Chloe could tell her dad her hair was on fire and her dad would reply with the standard, "Hmm? Oh, okay. That sounds good, honey."

She tried not to feel guilty about it but her dad would probably freak out and not handle it sensibly like Derek's dad had. And she was pretty sure her dad would bring Aunt Lauren into the mix and then it would be an unbearable situation.

"So, Chloe, can you stay for dessert?" Kit asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, we have about a hundred different types of ice cream," Simon said, getting up and moving towards the fridge.

"Oh, um, actually, I probably should go. My dad will be expecting me home soon, and I don't want him to get worried so..." Chloe reluctantly stood up, reaching for her plate.

Derek stood up with her, taking her plate from her. "I got that," he said. Her heart pounded as she met his eyes.

She tore her gaze away from his. _Don't start staring again, or you won't be able to stop and you'll embarrass yourself. Again__._

A few moments later they were all congregated at the front door. Kit being both fatherly and kind as he said his goodbyes made Chloe feeling a little more than envious of Derek and Simon for having such an awesome dad. Simon jostled her in a one arm hug as Derek handed over her coat.

She shuffled her feet, reluctant to leave and it wasn't just because of Derek. She had a nice time tonight, minus the fight. This is what it must feel like to be in a close, loving family. Unexpectedly—horrifyingly—her eyes began to prickle with tears and she blurted a quick goodbye and all but ran out the door.

Shivering instantly from the bitter cold, she walked quickly to her car, then almost had a heart attack when she realized Derek was right behind her.

"What are you doing out here? You'll freeze to death," she cried, glancing at his thin t-shirt.

"Cold doesn't really bother me," he shrugged. He looked down a little sheepish. "I was just walking you to your car, it's dark out and the driveway can get icy."

"Oh, thank you." Looking down she could see the sparkle of frost forming on the streets and on her car. She opened her door and threw her bag in.

"You probably should let your car warm up a bit," Derek said, plucking her keys from her hand and bending down into her car to start it up, blasting the heater.

He stood up and peered down at her, studying her and Chloe was more than surprised when she realized how close he was. She could feel a blush starting to creep up her neck and quickly looked down. But at eye level, all she could see was his chest, the thin cotton of his shirt stretched so nicely over his smooth—

_Oh my God, his nipples are hard!_

Chloe choked, which instantly started a coughing fit. She covered her face with her hands, trying to get her breathing under control.

"Are you okay?" She gazed up at Derek's concerned face through blurry eyes.

Bobbing her head and waving a hand in her face, she answered in a wavering voice, "Yeah, just, you know, I swallowed weird or...something. No big deal."

He nodded, looking thoughtful. "How about what happened earlier today? In the field. Are you okay with that?"

"I think so." She cleared her throat. "It was scary but...How about you? How's your face and...body feeling?" She looked over the red bruise forming below his mouth, a small cut on his lip.

"I'm fine. I just don't want you to get hassled by your dad freaking out or get into any trouble at school. You know, with the..." He made a spray paint sound as pantomimed holding a can of mace.

Chloe laughed quietly. "Yeah, well we kept that bit of information from your dad, so I think we should keep it that way from everybody else."

He was quiet for a long moment, until he finally said, "You'll tell me, right? Tell me if any of those guys bug you." The look in his eyes was strange—intense and focused. "I won't let anything happen to you, Chloe."

"Of course I'll tell you, Derek." She smiled reassuringly. "And thank you."

He stepped closer, so close Chloe almost had to crane her neck to look up at him. So close she could see the steam from her breath drift up towards his face. His hand slowly reached up and Chloe's heart began beating like a hummingbird. His fingertips brushed against the corner of her mouth as he gently pulled a strand of hair away from her lips. Then his hand dropped and he quickly backed away.

Disappointment, excitement, nervousness and about a hundred other emotions flooded her mind as Chloe blinked back into reality.

"I'll see you Monday," his voice rumbled, his gaze cast downward. Chloe could only mumble a yes before she numbly got into her car and pulled away, glancing back at Derek's large form as he watched her drive down the street, all the while thinking about how being in love was both awful and exhilarating at the same time.

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